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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26804416">On The Road to Hell</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/clutzycricket/pseuds/clutzycricket'>clutzycricket</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Dysfunctional Family, Other, dual timelines</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:08:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>20,918</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26804416</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/clutzycricket/pseuds/clutzycricket</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Once upon a time, in a county that didn't exactly exist, there was a house with a boy and a girl.</p><p>Then the monster came.</p><p>Twenty years on, Rhaenys Targaryen receives a call from her younger brother, telling her a childhood nightmare is not quite as dead as they thought, and he's gathering up everyone left alive who was there last time. She's... pretty sure this is going to end terribly, but guilt is a hell of a thing. Maybe it won't be as bad as she's afraid it would.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Leonette Fossoway/Garlan Tyrell</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. That Was In Another Life</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Once upon a time, when you could not escape the damn movie on your tumblr dashboard, I brought up the idea of an IT Fusion for ASOIAF. Um. Dear Readers. I have never, in actuality, seen any IT movies. So. It took on a life of it's own.</p><p>That being said, Li Morris is a creation I am gleefully yanking from Nora Roberts/JD Robb, and Aspen Creek is, in fact, from the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. As Rhaenys would point out if not, y'know, fictional, King's Landing County doesn't exist in a particular reality, and who comes out where is a thing no one's quite figured out. Murder Dino Island is, of course, Jurassic, because Jon warging raptors is a funny mental image and I was in a dark place starting this.</p><p>Also, the fic is done save some last minute edits, so barring complete file death, I'll be able to update weekly. </p><p>Fic and chapter titles are from Hadestown, because it's on brand for me.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The phone call came just as Rhaenys was leaving the morgue, and she groaned at the ringtone.</p><p>Li Morris, Chief Medical Examiner and usually all around amazing human being, was laughing at her a little. “Problems, Dr. Targaryen?”</p><p>She looked at the ceiling. “My brother is calling me. The one in Carolina, not the raptor handler. Last time was for my dad's funeral, I'm wondering what it is this time and I don't have enough caffeine to maintain a cheery front.” She swiped her phone before Dr. Morris realized that despite the call actually happening, Rhaenys hadn't actually gone to the funeral. It had been just when she'd started here, six years ago, but still. “Rhaenys Targaryen speaking.”</p><p>“Kit, you know it's me,” Aegon said, sounding disapproving and more like Mother than ever. “This is important, I need you to come home.”</p><p>“I left when I was fifteen and never looked back, Aegon,” she said, studying the pale overhang. No nesting birds today, though she'd seen seven crows playing outside of her apartment this morning. She tried not to look for signs- they tended to be useless until you needed validation after the fact.</p><p>Dr. Morris was watching curiously. He'd probably offer to get her a coffee, they'd made a friendship on music and good tattoo spots. He also was aware that until last year, her emergency contact had been a college roommate. And her new one was her long term boyfriend. Both times because he'd needed to call them, New York being, well, New York, and a weirdness capital of its own. Not unlike King's Landing, really, though it could probably be considered less racist and more queer friendly. Even after DA Lannister retired.</p><p>Gods, she was making herself depressed.</p><p>“Rhae, I didn't want to call, but two kids went missing. We found... part of one about two hours ago,” The Lord of Dragonstone said, sounding immensely tired.</p><p>The woman who had spent the first fifteen years of her life deservedly believing she'd be Mistress of Dragonstone, Bucker of Tradition, raised an eyebrow. “You have medical examiners that are in South Carolina. You have medical examiners who are even aware of... non-traditional flavors of humanity.” In whichever South Carolina he went to- she was fairly sure that the county was a pocket dimension of its own, but people go touchy when you tried to ask questions about things like how real their hometown was.</p><p>“We know what killed him,” Aegon said, and even though it was a warm summer morning, Rhaenys shivered.</p><p>“That is properly your job,” she said, flatly.</p><p>“I'm not the one who landed the killing blow,” Aegon pointed out.</p><p>“Not what you told everyone,” she said, drawing up her shoulders. She'd need to talk to Stephen about this. All of it.</p><p>Gods, she didn't drink, she didn't drink anymore...</p><p>“That was... Christ, Rhae, that was what I needed to say,” Aegon said. “We were kids.”</p><p>“Why don't you ask Loras or the others?” she said, leaning against the stone wall.</p><p>“I'm going to, but they won't all remember,” Aegon said. “I called Brienne, she's on her way. Garlan and Leo, they are already here, since Marg's getting married again...”</p><p>“Motherfucker, is this husband number five?” Rhaenys asked, raising her eyebrows. Li looked ready to ask questions.</p><p>“...Wife, actually, but yes,” Aegon sounded amused. “Hopefully it breaks her luck.”</p><p>“If she didn't... are we sure she's not a succubus?” Rhaenys asked. Renly had gotten killed on a hunt, Joffrey had “choked” on a chicken wing, Tommen had been a disaster caused by Cersei's murder suicide impulses... what had happened to Number Four? Aegon and Mera had been married by then, Quent and Sansa had Catie, and Jon's general reaction to women was to get nosebleeds when trying to flirt, so she hadn't much cared.</p><p>“To be fair,” Aegon started. “I think she only plotted Joffrey's death, and no one wanted to prove it.”</p><p>“Except Cersei,” Rhaenys said. “You did the cremation already?”</p><p>“Duck did it on location, we identified the girl by a bracelet she was wearing,” Aegon answered. “And... her nail polish. No clothing was attached.”</p><p>He'd grown up, some- time was he'd have just snapped at her to cover his ass, even if he'd done everything right.</p><p>“Fine,” she muttered. “I'll be there as soon as I can.”</p><p>Dr. Morris, who had seen her trying to herd techs and cops after the Brood infestation last month, had merely raised an eyebrow. “I'll put you in for emergency leave?”</p><p>“I'll work the next year's worth of holidays?” she said, by way of thanks.</p><p>“As long as you come back,” he said, and the concern in his voice was nice.</p><p>“Coming back or dead,” she said, ruefully. “And I think if I die there will be too much shouting. Not worth the nap.”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Once upon a time, there had been a girl and a boy. And a house. You mustn't forget the house, made of dark stone that absorbed light and seemed to have grown, rather than be carved, looming from it's little island and watching the rest of the county that wasn't always there.</p><p>There was another boy, a half-brother, but he could mostly be forgotten, as he did not live in the house, instead with his mother near the north end of the county.</p><p>The girl was older, dark and solemn, clever and reserved. The boy had been gilded and brash, thoughtless and hot-headed. Spoiled, really, but only time would tell if they had been spoiled rotten.</p><p>The girl had attended closely to her lessons, while the boy snuck to listen to tales of hunts and monsters past. Neither was better than the other, though the mother favored the boy, proof that she had done her duty, while the father favored the girl, who he found easier to understand.</p><p>They had both assumed that the girl would take over the duties of the house- she liked the gargoyles and the history like a heavy blanket, while the boy hadn't wanted to be bound to it. He wanted to wander, to see the places people spoke of. Yes, it hadn't happened in their house before, but their cousin was a girl and set to inherit responsibility.</p><p>Growing up had not been kind- they learned that certain things were expected of them now. The boy learned that people thought he should be in charge, and have to respect tradition for being tradition, not do things based on foolish criteria like merit or logic. The girl learned that however clever she was, people cared more about her being a girl, and a pretty girl at that, and it was all most of them cared about. Their mother had left, finding the home too strangling for her- their father claimed it was her delicate health, but he limited any contact to letters, which he carefully censored.</p><p>Then the children started disappearing. It had started at the north end of the county, where Truth Seekers and magpie mages gathered, scoffing at the rules and protections of the house. In the normal course of events, the smart ones would flee, and some of them even made it to places where myths fit comfortably between the pages of a book, their time in Dragonstone like a dream.</p><p>Those who didn't flee.. they sometimes found pieces. The creature who stole the children was not the only monster in the wood.</p><p>And then the creature moved south...</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“Rhaenys?” Stephen Strange looked up from his book as the door slamming sent shockwaves. She was usually careful with that sort of thing- there had been accidents as the Sanctum settled into life, after all, and they still cropped up. Usually as a result of a too curious visitor, but still.</p><p>She gave him a tired grin, but there was no visible bruising and no one had mentioned anything horrendous happening at the morgue. He had a feeling some helpful soul had set up an alert- Lewis or Parker, most likely.</p><p>“You look like hell,” he said, getting up. “Though you don't smell like week-old dead person...”</p><p>“Remember how you promised to pay back my security deposit after that weird sap stuff that smelled like durian?” she said, dryly. “I remember that.”</p><p>“I was able to get it out of the drains before it infected your neighbors,” he protested.</p><p>She rolled her eyes and kissed him, something unexpectedly possessive in the way she bit down on his lip and dug her nails in to his shoulder. “I got a call from my brother...”</p><p>“I am not going to the Island of the Murderous Oversized Lizards,” he said, grinning down at her. “I vote you drag Stark. Or Thor. Thor would love it.”</p><p>“Other brother,” she said, sighing. “Less Murderous Lizard, more Murderous Dead Things.” She swirled her hand a bit, letting her sleeves fall down so the scars down her arms were there. They were mostly cosmetic, unlike his own, but they were somehow uncanny in how they resembled a trail of silvery sparks, fingertips to elbows.</p><p>“Magical problem, then?” he said, growing serious.</p><p>“Remember when I said I left home when things got awful?” she said. “I may have simplified it a bit. I meant, I left when they wanted to burn me.”</p><p>He blinked. “Say <em>what</em>?” He'd heard stories about Dragonstone- halting ones from Rhaenys, and what he'd been tempted to assume were tall tales from others. After all, not all of her abilities lined up with what they spoke of. Though she'd let slip that something had happened that had skewed them. Mostly the visions from the dead.</p><p>“Well, that is what you do with the dead so they don't walk,” she said, as if it made perfect sense. “It's probably a good thing that my father never learned about the... difficulties, since.” She wrinkled her nose- she'd managed the visions of the dead that had started after she'd been sent away, after trial and error, and a discreet pair of enchanted ear cuffs. “There were also a dozen missing children, which set people's nerves on edge. And two more have gone missing in the past few days. They found part of one of them, at least.”</p><p>“...I'm going to get Wong and let him know we're going...” he said, standing up.</p><p>“No, you aren't,” she said, shaking her head. “That would cause more problems- me coming home will be enough of a hassle, but you sticking your nose in will make people close ranks, no matter how good an idea it is.” She tilted her head, looking ruefully at him. “But I could use some research help? We were never able to figure out what it was, last time, and between you and Wong something should shake out.”</p><p>He paused, remembering that his duties were actually vast and pressing, but missing children... “Call me if you need other help as well.” That was said with a sigh.</p><p>“I will.”</p><p>“And,” he added, “you should tell me the full story when you get back.”</p><p>She kissed his cheek, because he was trying so hard to be good about the not pushing.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Locked doors didn't work, sleeping with every light in the house didn't work, sleeping in the glass and stone of the church didn't work. The children vanished into the shadows, seeming to wander off if the parents so much as blinked.</p><p>So the Lord of Dragonstone bestirred himself, sending his hunters to chase down rumors and dark spots. Other things were caught- a kelpie who took up residence in one of the places where geography ran odd, a beast of a man in the golden mages' lands, various sundry dangers. But none could find where the beast came from.</p><p>So the children continued to vanish, and rumors grew like choking vines...</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“Quent!” Rhaenys grinned at the only person from Dragonstone who'd bothered keeping in touch with her. She'd decided to save money and ride the shadows into town, and Quentyn was her ride until she snagged a Dragonstone car. If she stayed long enough to need one- she hadn't actually driven a car that didn't have a body in it in... a while. He looked fine- his hair needed a trim, and was going grey a bit, but Uncle's had gone grey a bit early, and Aunt Mel had had mostly-grey hair for as long as she could remember. But there were laugh lines around his eyes, and his wife had clearly been the one handling his wardrobe- Quent in high school had been all oversized sweaters and harmless nerdery.</p><p>“How is your wife?” she asked, because that was a loaded question but one she needed to ask.</p><p>Quentyn gave her a solemn smile that let her know he got what she wasn't saying. Sansa Stark was lovely, taller than her quiet, stolid husband, and Robb Stark's younger sister.</p><p>This town, part of her thought bleakly, was determined to hit every version of incestuous that it could.</p><p>“She's fine- she actually went over to Charleston for a little bit, for business,” he said, the lie sounding awful. “She took Catie, since it's summer.”</p><p>The subtext of that was clear- Sansa didn't want to lose a daughter the way she'd lost her brother, and Rhaenys really couldn't blame her, given the Starks' rotten luck. Given Quent's expression, neither could he- but then again, he'd been the one to find Robb's body, down in the caves.</p><p>If he'd fled to Charleston too, she couldn't have blamed him. Though she wasn't certain he would have had a choice- even though Arianne had a teenager of her own, taking any pressure off of Quent to set an example, Aegon would have still Called Quent back.</p><p>The other question was, did Sansa not want to see Rhaenys, who had climbed out of those tunnels when Robb had not, when everyone said that it had not been a living girl who escaped, but a demon wearing her dead flesh. She hadn't gone to the wedding- that had been the one time she might have been tempted, if not for the bride.</p><p>On the one hand, Sansa was supposedly a sweet and forgiving woman. On the other... the weight of history was cruel, especially in a small town.</p><p>“Are we going to Dragonstone?” she asked. “Or did Arianne let us use Sunspear Tower?” She hoped it was Sunspear- she really didn't want to be in Dragonstone, and her cousin probably would understand.</p><p>“Meeting at Evenstar Bar, tomorrow morning,” Quentyn said, thoughtfully. “It's nearly midnight, Rhae.” He gave her a rueful look, watching as she tried to unravel her younger brother's choices. “You can crash at my place for the night- Sansa did up the guest room before she left.”</p><p>A knot in her chest she'd learned long ago to ignore unraveled a bit at that.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The children of Dragonstone were a privileged pair, true, but they were not the only ones. Sunspear Tower, along the southern coast, sheltered children from their part of the county, while the western part of the county had the old Gilded Age monstrosity of Casterly Rock overlooking the middle of the coast, digging into the heart of the earth, and the scattered enclaves of the North, crowned by Winterfell, and the large, laughing brood of children sheltered within those walls.</p><p>They thought themselves safe in their walls. Other children might vanish, but the Great Families would remain.</p><p>Historically, some of the more academically minded might point out, that was hardly the case. But they wouldn't care much about that, and besides, sending their children away would make them look weak.</p><p>But that confidence seemed catching, and cousins all clustered within those walls, watching the shadows and speculating about what was doing this.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Aegon was staring at his desk, and the bottle of scotch that Duck had gotten him as a joke, the one hidden in his desk drawer. Drinking probably wasn't a good idea, not now.</p><p>The desk hadn't been his father's- Mera had talked him out of burning his father's desk, after he'd died at it. Aegon had pointed out that it damn well might be haunted, Mera had laughed and pointed out that given Rhaegar Targaryen's habit of squirreling away bits of letters or spellwork, burning the desk might backfire down the line. Or just explode while burning.</p><p>He'd debated having one made- everything in this town was gossip and a call to judgment, though, so he'd had Loras help him find a good one in the attics, hauled it down, and had beers to relax and pretend they hadn't managed to end up with more bruises than they'd get with some Rides. It had been the stairs, Loras had proclaimed. It would have been fine otherwise.</p><p>And see how that turned out.</p><p>He'd call Mera, soon- her plane would be landing, and he'd like to hear her and Baelor's voices.</p><p>Mera'd probably laugh at him- she thought she should have stayed, to help with Rhaenys coming back, if nothing else. He'd pushed, though, because Baelor was so very young, and he'd found the old autopsy photos and had a stack of them on his desk, along with the new photos that had been taken before they'd cremated on site.</p><p>Fuck, he still didn't like doing that- he knew why, of course, necromancy was an old enemy, but still, bringing the family back something should be more important.</p><p>One drink wouldn't be the worst, given the circumstances.</p><p>His phone lit up, Desmera's picture on the screen.</p><p>He grinned, despite himself, and answered the phone. “Hey, babe.”</p><p>“Hey, babe?” she laughed. “How about, oh, hail most wonderful and miraculously patient goddess of my dreams, who handled a cranky kindergartner on an airplane?”</p><p>He closed the door to his office as he left it, hearing the door snick shut. “Well, I'm going to be dealing with my sister's grudges...”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Quentyn was listening- eavesdropping, really, but Arianne did it too, and Sarella was everywhere they weren't meant to be, so clearly it wasn't something that was that bad, at least in their house.</p><p>So he was currently hoping his parents didn't notice that he was bent over his math homework, which might be covered in eraser... dust? He thought it was called eraser dust- because he had gotten the steps mixed up and needed to redo the last three parts of the problem.</p><p>But his parents didn't notice that he wasn't in the library, so he'd just... not say anything. It would be awkward if he did.</p><p>Also, Nymeria would call him so many different kinds of idiot if he did.</p><p>His mother wanted to send them away- there had been a dead boy found a few blocks from Storm's End, apparently, and it had spooked her. Her hands were flashing- his gentle Selkie mother didn't lose her temper often, but when she did, it was usually arguing with Dad about how to raise their children.</p><p>“My dear, I cannot,” his father protested. “We cannot send the other children away.”</p><p>“Why not?” his mother asked. “We can send them to visit my family, you said yourself that Trystane takes after me, and the spells to allow the other two to take up skins...”</p><p>“<em>Mellario</em>,” Doran Martell sounded impatient. Maybe he should make a noise, it might stop them from fighting.</p><p>Or make them fight about fighting in front of him.</p><p>“It will be safer,” his mother pleaded.</p><p>“And you will go with them?” his father asked, sounding tired and something else that Quentyn didn't quite get.</p><p>“Why should I stay?” she asked.</p><p>His father's expression was heartbroken, but he didn't say anything else.</p><p>Quentyn filed it away- he wasn't sure he wanted to ask Arianne about it, but telling Rhae might be a good idea. And while he was pretty sure the actual place his mom wanted them to go was unique, he guessed there had to be a lot of other families trying to figure out if they should go.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Brienne honestly hadn't been home since graduating high school. She'd joined the army, then left that five years ago after an injury. She'd found a job doing search and rescue in the wild and the winds of Montana, and liked it and the people there. She'd called her father every so often- he was getting older, he liked to complain, but he'd sort of settled down with a widow who owned the laundromat next to his bar and seemed content.</p><p>She told herself that she would have returned if they ended up marrying, but it wasn't a real choice she'd need to make. Her father had married young, and after her mother and siblings died, he wasn't going to go through that again, preferring a string of girlfriends of varying ages who'd be pushed out before sticking around for more than a year. The widow he'd been seeing the past three years seemed to be breaking that trend, however.</p><p>She'd avoided Renly's wedding, to be fair, but that was... awkward. So terribly awkward. And she'd been in a military hospital for his funeral.</p><p>So why was she coming home because Aegon Targaryen called, saying it was urgent? Aegon had been her friend's little brother, a bit arrogant and prone to trouble. Not someone she was all that close to. The call had rattled in her bones, though, and not going hadn't seemed like an option, which was weird...</p><p>...and then she drove into the county limits and swerved, the weight of memory hitting her like a brick as the car shrieked a protest.</p><p>“Fucking dragons,” she muttered, ignoring her own Targaryen blood, which was a thin moonglow thing, here. Cornick hadn't liked it much, back in Montana, but he was also trying to pick his battles, and the dragonblood would react to an attack from an outsider. Also, they would be noisy and dramatic and draw attention. Objectively, she got that people who left should have some secrets blurred in their minds. In practice, that should have been looked at once people started driving cars.</p><p>She parked behind the bar, which was open, even though it was barely noon. People had reason to drink here, and it wasn't meth or opiods. The dragons were assholes, but she couldn't see Aegon tolerate drug pushing when there were that many mages about.</p><p>That was a pleasant mental image, and she enjoyed the idea of Aegon tormenting Big Pharma reps as she entered the door.</p><p>“Brienne?” her father was at the bar, squinting over a pair of reading glasses he hadn't needed last time he'd come to visit her. “Why are you here?”</p><p>He looked worried, and she wondered what horror movie reject was terrorizing people now.</p><p>Christ, if she knew, she had an obligation to stop it, didn't she?</p><p>“Aegon Targaryen <em>called </em>me,” she said, careful to place the emphasis.</p><p>His face darkened. He was as close kin to the Targaryens as Renly had been, but he'd tried to avoid the tangles of that life. He'd been annoyed when she made friends with Rhaenys, right up until the smaller girl had beat up Ronnet Connington when he'd made Brienne cry.</p><p>“He shouldn't have done that,” he said, shaking his head. “You dealt with this mess before.”</p><p>“What mess?” Brienne said, tilting her head. It wasn't going to be the poltergeist that had taken residence in the middle school gym, knowing her luck. She and Rhaenys had tackled that, Sarella Sand hopping about with a massive spellbook and correcting them as they went.</p><p>“One of the Farwind children went missing, a boy, a couple days ago,” he said, slowly. “Then a Sunderland, little girl about six or so. Then another little girl, just this morning.”</p><p>She felt her spine freeze. “Are you saying...” she looked around, at the comforting dim lighting and scarred wood tables, where as a child she'd done homework and listened to hunters trading stories and laying plans.</p><p>“Whatever took those children last time, it's back,” he said. “I heard he called his sister back, didn't realize that he'd called you.”</p><p>“Oh, Rhae must be thrilled,” Brienne muttered. She'd put up with so much shit, and then Aegon...</p><p>...the little bastard had let her take all the blame.</p><p>“Seems to be as fast as she was before,” her father said, a tiny hint of a grin on his face. Either he was being an old lech- and as much as she loved him, he could be, and she knew how people looked at Rhae- or he was remembering the bitter war between Rhae, Brienne, and Quent versus the football team, who had made up some truly shitty rumors about what a girl who looked like that did with boys. And girls. And possibly monsters.</p><p>Brienne rolled her eyes. “I'm going to visit her first, then. Anyone else called in?”</p><p>Of the people who had been there that night... Brienne, Aegon, Rhaenys, Loras, Garlan, and Quentyn.</p><p>...and Robb, but well. That had been the problem.</p><p>“The Tyrell boy died a week back,” her father said, “and some people are wondering if he killed himself.”</p><p>Her heart dropped.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. It’s Not Right, It’s Not Natural</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been a week after Halloween, and Aegon and Rhaenys were waiting for their father to be done.</p><p>Aegon had been caught trying to listen in, while Rhaenys had sighed and reminded him that their father liked to talk. So did Petyr Frey, who was the man sent to petition their father.</p><p>If Father didn't tell them the whole story, Ami would tomorrow. Mind, the whole town would know, which would be frustrating. She would want to know first, before the rumors start. She'd heard the shouting when Aegon was caught, and came down and agreed to watch her brother. He'd looked mutinous even after she cast the listening spell, which seemed rude.</p><p>The doors opened, and Merret Frey half-stumbled out, Father gliding behind. “I trust that you have given me all relevant information?” Father asked, and Rhaenys cocked her head.</p><p>Aegon sighed. It was really annoying when she did that. It was practically shouting that she knew more than he did.</p><p>“Of course, of course,” Merret Frey said, nearly bowing.</p><p>“He does realize Dad isn't a king?” Aegon whispered in her ear.</p><p>“On Dragonstone, I don't think it matters,” Rhaenys pointed out, hands gripping her chair. “Shh.”</p><p>Frey walked out the door, and their father turned to look at them when it was closed. “So.”</p><p>Aegon lifted his chin to meet his eyes. Their father had them stand when he sat, when he wanted to make them feel like they were in trouble. Maybe if he tried it, their father would feel stupid.</p><p>Not likely, but he should try.</p><p>“It is eating people our age and younger,” Aegon said, carefully enunciating his words. “We are in danger.”</p><p>“You disrespected me,” Father said, not sounding angry, instead disappointed. It would be more effective if Aegon actually cared what Father thought of him.</p><p>“Do you expect us to just hide in the corner, then?” Aegon asked, glaring up at him.</p><p>“I expect you to wait until I chose to provide you with the proper information,” Father said.</p><p>Rhaenys offered, sweetly, “But there are enough improper sources of information, Father, that it seemed better to get the proper information before we locked into some false assumption.”</p><p>That made no sense to Aegon, but Father nodded. “I suppose. But you still should be respectful.”</p><p>Rhaenys stepped on Aegon's foot before he could say anything.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Brienne hadn't ended up visiting Rhaenys before the meeting. The shock of Loras' death had been followed by her father clearly baiting her with tasks so she'd stay within sight, and she remembered enough to figure that trying to drive around aimlessly was going to end badly until she was sure she knew what she was doing, especially when she realized Rhae probably wouldn't stay in Dragonstone, which left a few other places, depending on who'd kept in contact with her.</p><p>Rhaenys was waiting with Quentyn Martell outside of the pub, looking around as if she expected something to attack her. They both looked well, for the circumstances- she had to smile a bit at the wedding ring on Quentyn's finger, and the bits of grey already starting to crop up. He wouldn't be the sort to dye it, after all, though the haircut itself somehow seemed neater than her own “whack it off with kitchen scissors.” Rhaenys still wore her heavy curls in a long ponytail, though the sapphire blue men's sweater she was wearing clearly wasn't hers and hid her hands, so if she'd gotten married... god, that would have set the town a blazing. Probably make her father rise from his ashes in rage, too- Rhaegar had died a few years back, right after Renly, and Brienne knew Rhaenys hadn't shown up for that.</p><p>They caught sight of her, and Quent's smile was bright and awkward, but Rhaenys had that “knock you on your ass” smile on her face, like you were the best thing she'd seen. She'd used it to get them out of a lot of trouble as kids, though some of the nastier gossips had used it as proof that she was a slut.</p><p>(Really, they'd called Brienne a slut for... trying to practice fighting with the boys, not wearing make-up, and growing up over the bar? There hadn't been any not-awful reasons for saying it about Rhaenys either, who had been carefully made-up and usually covered up as weather would allow, hadn't ever so much as gone on a date, though she'd always blushed terribly whenever Willas Tyrell had spoken to her. Which... people could be awful, and sometimes she was tired of calmly proving them wrong. Punching people in the face just caused more problems, though. See the fight with Connington in school, which had gotten Rhaenys into see a counselor for her “violent tendencies” until Rhaegar had swept in.</p><p>“Brienne!” she called, waving. Brienne found herself waving back. The driver's side door of a sturdy looking hybrid car a couple doors down opened, and then Aegon Targaryen peeked out.</p><p>He didn't seem terribly formidable- taller than Brienne but more lanky, dark skin making his silver-blonde hair seem even more otherwordly than it normally did on Targaryens. His day job was conservation work, if she remembered her Dad's semi-sober discussion, and the jeans with the busted knee and Rammstien t-shirt worked pretty well with that vibe.</p><p>Of course, he'd also managed to use his voice to call all of them back without really remembering why. Plus the bit where he was the guy in charge of the not-entirely-in-normal-reality county full of monsters and magic. Brienne therefore could be forgiven for not noticing Garlan, who was built like a tank, or tiny, graceful Leonette follow him out, not until Garlan waved at them.</p><p>Shortly after her discharge and before going to Montana, Brienne had gone on vacation to Australia. Garlan would fit perfectly in with the sufer-jock stereotype there. Leo was as sweet as ever, tight curls pulled back in a tighter bun and seeming to float instead of walk.</p><p>Rhaenys froze as he came out, and then set her shoulders in a stance Brienne knew all too well. Leo caught it too, judging by the concerned look she was bouncing between Rhae and Aegon.</p><p>It might be bitchy to point out that most of the people who survived to this point had been Rhaenys' friends. Not that Aegon didn't still have people he was close with, apparently, but none of them were ones who had gone into the caves. Rolly Duckworth had been a paratrooper who'd settled in after inheriting a distant relative's shop, and a few other people who formed the apparently carefully balanced inner circle of Dragonstone House were considered close, but Loras had died, and Robb, of course, had been gone since... well. Even Renly had died, and he'd usually been the one who'd charmed Aegon out of his sulks as a child.</p><p>Despite the clothes, she'd almost think he'd grown up, given his tired expression and the ink on his fingers. He wasn't saying anything, just watching them all carefully.</p><p>Who was going to speak first? Should she risk just clanking their heads together?</p><p>The standoff came to a head when someone let out a loud curse from a car driving down the road, and tossed out something smoking, right at Rhaenys.</p><p>“Dead bitch” had also been shouted, and Brienne went to rush in, when Rhaenys flicked a hand and sent the bottle down the block, where a rose-colored dome held it as it exploded.</p><p>“I've picked up a few tricks,” Rhaenys said, a blank, doll-like look on her face to match her flat voice. “I don't know how good the sidewalk will look, though.”</p><p>“Huh,” Brienne said, trying to keep everything light. The bottle had been kicked safely down the street, it had been contained harmlessly, and they could brush it off.</p><p>“I forgot how quick everyone was with Molotov cocktails here,” Garlan said, looking over at the sidewalk. “Not too bad, Rhae, it just needs a broom. Those idiots, though...”</p><p>“They tried to fucking...” Aegon trailed off, shocked into silence that someone would dare try that. No one else really wanted to look at him, because he was the only person actually surprised.</p><p>“Say it,” Quentyn said, sounding so tired. “If you can't even say it, Aegon....”</p><p>“They wanted to burn the walking corpse,” Rhaenys said, suddenly maniacally bright as she turned to face her brother. “And we all know why they decided I'm a walking corpse, Aegon.”</p><p>Brienne had never been entirely sure what Aegon had told everyone, actually- her bell had been rung pretty clearly, besides almost drowning, and her dad had kept her home for a few days until Rhaenys had cleared town, and even then she'd have been pretty near a pariah if it hadn't been for the Martells and their friends. She knew that Rhaenys had been blamed for what went down, even a bit for Robb's death, but the rumors had grown too quickly for her to piece it together and no one wanted to talk about it. “I don't.”</p><p>“That I'd been the one to go down and fight the monster, of course,” Rhaenys said, violet eyes glittering with the sort of maliciousness that made Brienne take a step back. “That I wanted to prove that despite being a girl I could inherit Dragonstone. That he went down and saved me, and found me lying defeated at the creature's feet.”</p><p>“...Aegon, you <em>idiot</em>,” Brienne said, instinctively. He gave her a wounded look, but sighed.</p><p>“Rhae, no one would have believed that it was the other way around,” he pointed out. And Brienne frowned, because that was partially true- a lot of people wouldn't, but... well. Not all of them. It would be messy, but still.</p><p>Aegon had been impulsive as a kid, and Loras had egged him on a lot, before Brienne left. Not maliciously, but with the arrogance of two kids who were promised power in a place like the county. Rhaenys was the methodical one. Brienne knew Dad would believe the truth, and probably the Greyjoys, most of the southern end, and the Sunderlands and the Mormonts and the Hightowers...</p><p>Rhaenys snorted. “Really? 'Cause none of the family believed you as it was.”</p><p>Quent looked at the sky rather than back up Aegon, which made Brienne suspect Rhaenys was both right and digging into a nasty old wound for Aegon.</p><p>“Mom did,” Aegon said, and that was what did it. Rhaenys went utterly still, before walking into the bar. Brienne paused, remembering that Rhaenys had been sent to California to live with her mother after the caves.</p><p>Well, that might explain her holing up in New York and never coming back.</p><p>“Aegon,” Garlan sighed. “Could you just... not be you for five minutes?”</p><p>Aegon gave him a freezing look before following his sister in.</p><p>“I should go make sure Dad's not stuck with them alone?” Brienne said, after a moment.</p><p>“Probably a good idea,” Leo said, darting a nervous glance at her husband. Brienne had been out of it and too injured to speak- she kind of wondered what they had said, after... everything. They'd gotten a pass out of town, and that only came from the Targaryens. Had they been bribed to be quiet?</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>They were at school the next day, and Aegon was talking to Robb and Loras.</p><p>“Do you think you know what it is?” Robb asked.</p><p>“Do you think anyone knows how to kill it?” Loras asked- he was taller than Robb by a few inches, and his curly brown hair was getting a bit long. It wouldn't normally bother Aegon- Rhaegar wore his hair in a ponytail, after all- but it made him look more like his little sister Margie.</p><p>“Rhaenys said she's going to scour the records to see if anyone faced something like this before,” Aegon said.</p><p>“Boring,” Robb muttered. Which was hilarious, considering how stupid he got when Rhae was in the room. At least he could take his eyes off her tits, though, which was better than some of the others.</p><p>It was kind of funny, since Rhaenys kind of just patted Robb on the head and very clearly didn't notice. Leo Fossoway said it was probably just background noise to her at this point, whatever that meant.</p><p>“It might be useful,” he said, weakly. Loras gave him a skeptical look, but said nothing.</p><p>“Hey,” Robb said, frowning. “Did anyone see the Bracken kid today?”</p><p>Aegon and Loras looked at each other and shook their heads.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“What actually happened to Loras, though?” Rhaenys asked, after Brienne had gotten them all drinks. “Since I'm the designated bitch of the group.”</p><p>Quent looked at the ceiling again, Leo shot Garlan a worried look, and Aegon was glaring daggers at her. Garlan sighed.</p><p>“There was a fire at the old Darklyn place- a couple of teenagers doing stupid shit, set off something, the arson investigator isn't sure yet,” he said, heavily. “Dad said it's magical, Aunt Mal agrees for once.”</p><p>And Mad Malora Hightower was a <em>brilliant</em> source, no one was willing to say. Except for the bit where she'd say the sky was orange, if her brother-in-law said it was blue.</p><p>“Granddad burnt it down the first time,” Rhaenys offered instead. “He liked to use wildfire, I think that was one of the ones marked as being a probable wildfire cache on Jaime Lannister's map.”</p><p>“Fire wasn't green,” Garlan shook his head. “Thanks for trying, though. Someone said they swore it was black, though.”</p><p>She frowned. “I've heard of a few weird spells that might have that effect, but not much in the way of materials or potions.” Maybe she'd ask Stephen to look into it, but she wanted to try keeping him from coming down and interfering. As much as she'd prefer him as back-up, he would try to out-asshole the whole county and she didn't want to deal with that.</p><p>Though the thought of him making one-man war on Aegon's ego gave her the warm and fuzzies. He'd consider it fair play after the incident with that old colleague of his who turned vampire.</p><p>“Honestly?” Leo looked at all of them, a flash of her normal spirit in her eyes. “Maybe he did kill himself. Loras was proud and grieving and I'm still amazed he outlived Renly as long as he did. For as flashy as he was, Renly was a lot of the sense of the pair.”</p><p>Rhaenys sipped her drink and didn't say a word. She hadn't come back for Renly's funeral, after all, even if he was family. She hadn't come back for Viserys', either, or Grams'. Renly had died a bit like Viserys, though, proud and so very sure that he was better than what lived in the woods and the shadows.</p><p>She didn't have much to say about Renly's sense- but she had enough of her own not to contradict Leo right now.</p><p>“I don't think he would,” Garlan said. Everyone looked at him. “Not like that, at least. Not while in the middle of a job. Crashing his car on a back road, yes. On the job, when he thought there might be kids in there, no. If the thing we thought we killed, if it's back...”</p><p>“Could it start hunting us,” Brienne asked, looking at Aegon, who wasn't saying anything. “While we are here, at least?”</p><p>“Probably,” he managed. “I thought I saw... Well, yeah. You think Loras saw the creature when he was on the job?”</p><p>“We killed it last time,” Garlan said, heavily. “That might make it hold a grudge.”</p><p>“Aegon,” Rhaenys said, with the tone of voice she'd used on a few particularly idiotic classmates, “What did you think you saw?”</p><p>Her brother was very quiet, and that was fairly damning.</p><p>“Did you see the creature?” Leo asked, hands gripping the bar counter in a way she probably normally wouldn't. Not that her dad didn't keep it mostly clean, but charming, delicate Leonette would normally be careful with sticky bar surfaces. She'd been friends with Rhae, but it had been bad luck that had brought her down to the cathedral-cave underneath the town.</p><p>“Robb,” Aegon said, in a carefully dismissive tone. “I thought I saw Robb, in that giant grey coat he used to wear. It might just have been Edmure's boy,” he added, trying to convince himself.</p><p>No one seemed very convinced, but she didn't know when anyone had last seen Robb Stark's Uncle Edmure, who was a few years older than Rhaenys and <em>had</em> looked a lot like an older Robb. She probably wasn't the only one who'd never seen Edmure's kid.</p><p>God, she wanted to go <em>home</em>. She didn't belong here anymore.</p><p>They just needed to kill this thing.</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Quentyn and Garlan were in her math class that morning, and Leonette made sure to put her math book down before thunking her head against the desk. It was softer that way, and she didn't need a bruise on her forehead on top of everything else.</p><p>“Are you okay?” Quentyn asked, because Quentyn was sweet like that.</p><p>“Do you need anything?” Garlan asked, because Garlan was also sweet but Tyrell-practical to boot.</p><p>“Rhae to figure out whatever the fuck this is?” Leo said, after she looked up. “Mom and Auntie were on the phone most of the night- I think they didn't want to sleep.” Mom had also not wanted Leo or her brothers and sisters to go to school, but Dad had overriden her.</p><p>She knew her cousin Franklin, vaguely- he was a member of the other branch of the Fossoway family, which tended towards dysfunction at the best of times, and honestly, last night was probably the only time Mom and Auntie Jackie spoke without Auntie Jackie making a snarky , often underhanded, comment about Mom being black.</p><p>Being friends with Rhaenys had started a bit selfishly- Rhaenys was known to have Brienne, Quent, Sarella Sand, and others over her big creepy house a lot, even overnight, and no one said no to the Targaryens. Then she'd actually realized she liked the other girl, even if she made lists for her lists.</p><p>But Dragonstone was <em>quiet</em>.</p><p>“You want us to take you home tonight?” Garlan asked.</p><p>There was a wail from the hallway, and Leonette grabbed Garlan's arm.</p><p>Ms. Moelle gave them a stern look. “Really, Miss Fossoway...”</p><p>“There's blood, there's blood!” came a sharp wail- one of the Frey girls, Leonette thought, but not Ami or her sister Walda.</p><p>Ms. Moelle turned a sickly-milk color. “Our father, who art in heaven...” she started, clutching for something around her neck.</p><p>Jynessa Blackmont shot her a poisonous look and opened the door, then paused as the coppery smell of blood hit them, taking a reflexive step back. “Who died...”</p><p>There was nothing there, though, Leonette thought, craning up to look around. Well, there was a sobbing Frey girl on her knees in the hall.</p><p>“Maybe someone should call the sheriff?” Quentyn said. When no one moved, he added, a bit impatiently, “and maybe someone should go comfort Walda? I'll call the sheriff and my uncle...”</p><p>Oh, it was one of the Waldas who was a senior. This one was... not a bitch, exactly, but considered “the pretty Walda” and one of the cheerleaders and in general not one of the people Leo hung out with. Still, she was clearly freaked out. Leo stood up shakily, earning a tired nod from Quentyn as she went to go check on Walda.</p><p>“There was blood coming from the lockers,” the older girl sobbed, and Leo could see Jynessa taking up a guard position by the classroom door. Probably a good idea if Ms. Moelle got herself together- the woman had the tact of a rampaging hippopotamus and the sensitivity of Renly's older brothers.</p><p>Leo wrapped an arm around Walda and tried to remember the name of the Frey child who went missing a few days ago- there were a lot of them, and technically the Freys included having a Frey mom, so there might be more. Rhae or Myri would be the ones who knew that sort of thing.</p><p>“I thought I heard Perra and Elmar for a second, and I went to shout,” Walda said, forcing the words out. She was rocking a bit, and still sobbing every other syllable. “But then there was just so much blood like... like a wave, only from both sides and...”</p><p>“Shh, shh, I know,” Leonette said. “It's gone now.”</p><p>Rhaenys walked up, dark eyes solemn as she took it in. “I saw Quentyn, he's calling my father and Sheriff Royce. They'll check everything out. Do you want me to stay with you, Walda? To make sure someone calls your parents?”</p><p>“I'll get her brother,” Garlan said, coming in from the classroom. He looked back at them as if expecting someone to say something. “I don't think we're going to have class after this.”</p><p>“They'll send us back tomorrow, the next day at the latest,” Rhaenys predicted. “Be careful.”</p><p>He nodded, and Rhaenys sat with her back against the lockers, Jynessa standing at the classroom door, and Leonette was in the middle of the hall, holding a sobbing Walda until the older girl's brother got there.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>“So where did the children go missing?” Brienne asked, looking around. The bar was closed, at least, so they didn't have to worry about voices carrying. She knew the vague outlines of what had happened, but it was fogged with rumor.</p><p>“The first was a boy from the north end of the county, a Flint,” Aegon said, after a moment. His long legs were crossed at the knees and his arms were lazily across his chest, and if you ignored his scowl, he could pass for unbothered. “It took a bit, as it must have happened the same night Duskendale burned. There is enough madness up there we were almost convinced it was another one of our perennial problems, especially when we couldn't call the body.”</p><p>Ice zombies, then, Brienne thought. They sadly didn't leave enough of a trace for most hunters to track, though Tag or one of the other wolves in Aspen Creek probably could. But that wouldn't last forever- they didn't care too much about covering their tracks. Plus, you could usually find the missing when they came back and tried to eat you.</p><p>But he wasn't one of the kids that Selwyn Tarth had known about. Meaning that there was a lot not being said around town, yet. That almost made sense- a lot of people considered anyone south</p><p>“A Farwind boy about a couple of days later,” Aegon added, gripping his beer. “He was seven and had been walking along the beach, but we found a shoe near the high school. The eldest of the Sunderland children in the main branch, we found the arm dangling from a tree.”</p><p>“The fourth I know about was Addam Marbrand's youngest,” he added, carefully. “We found her backpack this morning.”</p><p>Rhaenys flinched at that- Addam Marbrand was married to one of her few friends who hadn't been on the hunt, and Myrielle Lannister, Selwyn had said, wasn't much fond of Aegon still.</p><p>“Blade or pulling,” Rhaenys forced herself to ask. The hesitation was well hidden, Brienne admitted, but there. “For Marya Sunderland.”</p><p>“Pulled,” Aegon answered after a moment. “It looked like she was still alive, according to the coroner, but we had to do the burn protocols faster than he'd like.”</p><p>“Jesus,” Garlan said, shaking his head. Had he and Leo had kids? Most of their families were still here, and she couldn't see bringing children back here, so maybe if they did Margaery or someone was watching them. From somewhere far away.</p><p>...did Aegon have children? He must, that would have been something that would have gotten back to her somehow if the family was about to die out.</p><p>“Where was Diana's backpack found, though?” Rhaenys asked, knuckles bloodless around her drink. It had been a virgin daquiri- she'd been slightly tense when ordering, and had asked very quietly, in a way she suspected meant that she hadn't wanted anyone else to hear. Drinking problems or just being afraid of a loss of control, Brienne wasn't sure.</p><p>“How did you know her name?” Aegon asked, eyebrows knitting together. “Quentyn?”</p><p>“Not me,” Quentyn said, sipping his beer. He was pacing himself pretty well, and she was pretty sure he wasn't going to ask for a second. “We didn't talk much about this.”</p><p>“Myri was a friend, Aegon, and she calls every so often,” Rhaenys said, putting her glass down. “Diana was a sweet kid, from those calls. She called me when I was putting my stuff away- no one bothered to tell her where and if any of Diana was found, and apparently there was a rumor going 'round that you called me here.”</p><p>“Ah,” Aegon said, after a moment. “I see. She went missing from playing with her cousins, near the middle part of the coast. We found the bag not too far from the High School.” Which, Brienne thought, was smack in the middle of the county. If the killer had been forced to go overground, Golden Tooth Hill would need to be used, and the Leffords would have noticed, but the killer probably hadn't gone overground. As it was Alysanne Lefford was probably throwing a shit fit and trying to dowse for tunnels to dynamite.</p><p>Alysanne Lefford had never given a single fuck in her life, and Brienne had admired her for that.</p><p>Garlan shook his head but didn't say anything. Garlan was a sweet lad, even now.</p><p>“So what do we do?” Leo asked, looking at all of them. “I mean, we need to do something, that's why we're here, but... we thought it died last time.”</p><p>“We were told it died,” Rhaenys said, a flicker of rue on her face. “The explosion cleaned my clock but good, and Brienne got knocked out and ended up in the water, Garlan and you were more focused on getting everyone out than checking if it was dead.”</p><p>“Thanks again for pulling me from the water,” Brienne said to Garlan, who nodded.</p><p>“You'd have done the same,” he said.</p><p>Well, she would have tried. Garlan was heavy, and she might have needed help.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Myrielle Lannister danced with Leonette at the studio that Jeyne Swann taught at, the one Rhaenys had gone to before being gently told that she couldn't go too much further, being too tall and of a body type not suited to ballet. Jeyne had been nice about it, and had talked to her Aunt Ellaria and she did her new dance classes at the one Aunt Ellaria went to with Arianne, the older Stark girl, and Ami Frey. Myrielle had mocked her endlessly for being a perfectionist, and that maybe she brought her own troubles on herself.</p><p>Will Tyrell, to her endless embarrassment, had overheard and suggested that it was maybe sixty-forty, in favor of people being assholes a lot. Thankfully, Myri didn't make a joke about Rhaenys blushing, because then she might have launched herself at her friend.</p><p>Leonette would dance professionally- Dad had already promised to handle the usual difficulties in transferring out to the wider world, because if you had classical arts talent Dad was an easy sell, especially because things like scouts were kind of hard to get to come here without a lot of meddling.</p><p>If someone was a massive sports prodigy, usually Mace Tyrell or someone else in the “LOOK, SPORTSBALL” category would find a way to get in a scout, but Dad had made it easier for, say, arts students and dancers to get some sort of access. It made for a sort of balance in who could succeed in the outside world, at least until they came back home.</p><p>Myri, though she was very good, accepted accolades as if she couldn't imagine getting anything less, and was going to go to Georgetown and study law.</p><p>Which would be useful to her family, probably, but maybe also useful later if Dad did decide she could inherit Dragonstone. A DA she could trust would be nice.</p><p>Myri came zooming out, Leo following behind more carefully, calling out a goodbye to Miss Jeyne. Both of them had sleepover bags- they were going to crash at her place tonight, and since her dance class ended first and none of the kids who actually went missing were older than fourteen, Dad didn't grumble about it.</p><p>“Did you hear?” Myri asked. “Someone else is missing- one of the Mertyns.”</p><p>“How'd you find out?” Rhaenys asked, raising her eyebrows.</p><p>“His older sister is in our class,” Leo said, turning to face them. “Her mother called...”</p><p>Grief could make people do the oddest things, but she supposed it might be reflex. Or seeing if any of the other five girls in the class might have seen him. You were meant to shout from the rooftops, just to get as many people up in arms as possible.</p><p>“Never came home from school, then?” Rhaenys guessed. Mistwood House would need a bus for the little ones... did he get on the bus? Perhaps her father should suggest something, but she wasn't quite sure what the best solution would be...</p><p>“It doesn't look like it,” Myri frowned, then looked out at the slowly darkening sky. “What's causing this?”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>As they were leaving the bar, unsure of where to go from there, Rhaenys turned the corner and was in her apartment.</p><p>It's not real, she told herself, feeling the hands on her neck and noticing how cold they were. Stiff, too, like with rigor mortis, and she pried them off, trying to do everything she would with a bad decomp, trying not to look, trying to breathe in as little as possible.</p><p>No, no, no. Fear cut too deep, it made blood well from the cuts it made and let the creature feast.</p><p>She opened her eyes and shoved the false corpse to the ground, ignoring the way it's arms seemed to have been cut to ribbons, the burns on its scarred fingers, the bite on its throat, one that couldn't have been made by a human mouth, even if the jaw could unhinge. She didn't let herself look at the bloodstained blue fabric, or the white-streaked hair. She just had to let this roll off of her- it was testing her, looking for weaknesses. Focus on how the illusion didn't hold to reality, the tiny flaws that proved that this wasn't real- he couldn't be that stiff, not given the smell of rot, the lines of his face were slightly off, she didn't see cat fur anywhere...</p><p>Ignoring the blood under her cracked nails, longer than she normally wore them, the burns on her shoulders and upper arms with the bruises to match, the coppery taste and bits stuck in her mouth.</p><p>What the actual fuck, though. There was the ghost of laughter in her ears- was the because of the creature? Whatever side effects of killing the creature there had been, Stephen, Wong, or anyone else who'd checked hadn't noticed that she'd suddenly do something like this, so it wasn't even her fear. Honestly, she'd find it more likely that Stephen would come home with a werewolf bite and a set of notebooks for her to write down observations on what happened.</p><p>The absurdity of that image helped, and she closed her eyes, ignoring the false corpse, and drew upon the feeling of waves and calm and oceanscape she used when trying to visualize her powers, ignoring the way the feel of salty spray seemed more sticky and metallic than it should, and pulled it in like a wave, washing it away.</p><p>Something screamed, in pain or frustration she didn't care. Because she was back in the bar, with everyone staring at her.</p><p>“So, I think I know what happened to Loras,” she said. Her voice sounded like a dead thing, and she refused to look at her hands. “Remember what happened to Walda Frey?”</p><p>She didn't really feel blood drying on them, not anymore, but she was afraid. She couldn't even call Stephen, not when he'd come haring down like the superheroic dolt he pretended he wasn't. It didn't matter that every cell in her body was craving to confirm it was only a hallucination, to either call or just fly back to New York and forget she'd ever come here.</p><p>“Well, fuck,” Garlan said, after a moment.</p><p>She had to agree.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. If You Want to Walk Out of Hell</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Do you think we could beat the monster?” Robb asked, idly throwing a paper airplane that might have been his social studies notes.</p><p>Aegon looked up at him, deciding his science homework wasn't that interesting. “...why?”</p><p>Robb made a sweeping gesture that took in the size of the problem. “Well, no one else seems to be doing it.”</p><p>Rhaenys had dug up what seemed like an old record from Bloodraven, but she and their cousin Quent were trying to decipher it and weren't sure how useful it would turn out being. He knew there were attempts at patrols, but their father was resisting closing the schools, pointing out that the monster took children from their homes as well. He was working on having children dropped off at their homes, instead of bus stops.</p><p>Aegon wasn't sure why they weren't going to just throw open the Great Houses and allow people to shelter there- Rhaenys said the official reason was the homes weren't big enough, which was a maybe even if you just sent in the kids, but the unofficial reason was that after what happened to Lyanna Stark their father wasn't sure how well forcing the Lannisters, Baratheons, or Arryns would go.</p><p>Lysa Tully-Arryn, Rhaenys had said dryly, would most likely hear her husband's complaints, murder him, take in all the children and be forced to give them back home when the hunt was complete, as well. And while she liked Crazy Lysa more than dealing with Jon Arryn, that wouldn't go over well at all. Ordering the Lannisters would mean engineering Tywin's death and Cersei's as well, because civil war, while Tyrion was generally sensible enough about how fucking massive the Rock was and all the protections on it. Robert Baratheon would be contrary for the sake of it, unfortunately. Ordering the deaths of the owners of the Great Houses to comply with orders would be a Problem.</p><p>“Is your dad going to take kids in?” Aegon asked, tilting his head. Uncle Doran already had the Water Gardens, and no kid had vanished from there, yet. Quentyn had frowned when Aegon had pointed that out, and pointed out that it wasn't a good long term solution and that it made people more suspicious of the Martells and others in that neighborhood.</p><p>Good old racism, Rhaenys had said without looking up from her books. Quent had sighed in agreement and gone to make everyone sandwiches.</p><p>“Arya wants him to,” Robb said, wrinkling his nose. “Mom wants to know how supplies will go, and there is a lot of planning involved. It might take a couple weeks so people can eat and have enough toilet paper, she said. So I really want this thing dead.”</p><p>Aegon nodded, sighing. He should have realized it wouldn't be that easy. How many people could Dragonstone have? They had quarters for Hunters to stay overnight, but those would hold about a dozen men. Maybe more kids, but they couldn't be sure. Uncle Doran could open the old Sandship, and the Starks had their own hunters' quarters, but he didn't think that would fit all of them.</p><p>So killing the creature as fast as possible would be the best plan.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>This seemed to be confirmation enough that the creature could cause hallucinations strong enough to cause actual harm to people. This attack had left tracks on Rhaenys' arms from claws, and meant that Aegon caught glimpses of some other ones, including the small, peppered burns that seemed to form constellations on her hands and up over her wrists. He'd maybe seen them raw and new, coming out of the cave, but she'd been driven out quickly enough that he'd never seen how most of the injuries had healed.</p><p>She pulled the sleeves of her sweater over her wrists and hands, sending him a freezing look. He'd liked to assume that he'd grown past her being able to affect him like that, but he still felt like he was a thirteen year old who wasn't sure how he'd fucked up.</p><p>“Rhae, you're bleeding,” Garlan said, and pulled down the shoulder of her sweater. She glared at him, but Garlan shook it off somehow.</p><p>Possibly by being more focused on the deep punctures on her shoulders.</p><p>“I'll need to look at Renly's autopsy records,” she said, ignoring the six and a half foot tall man using an iphone flashlight to better see the cuts. “I can see if there is anything that would match up with these wounds. Loras' as well- he'd have been burned, I assume?”</p><p>“Are you sure...” Leonette stopped at the sharp smile that Rhaenys gave her.</p><p>“I'm sure,” she said. She sounded like their cousin Nym when her pride was hurt- not that she'd like the comparison. While she adored their cousins, she and Nym had always needled each other like crazy.</p><p>“Don't bleed on the paperwork,” Brienne said absently, looking around the room. “Did the hunters last time ever see tracks that this thing left?”</p><p>“No,” Quent said, because Quent was a research nerd. “I don't even know how you found the creature's lair, Aegon.”</p><p>“Robb was bleeding,” Aegon said quietly. Rhaenys shot him a Look at that- they'd never talked about how either of them found it. Mostly because Rhaenys, by the time either of them were up for talking, wanted to use his guts for jump rope. And also because she'd known, and she'd thought it was a stupid idea. “But he wasn't dead yet, so I could use the spare sample Dad got to track him.” They'd just managed it, Robb had probably died as soon as he and Loras had gotten in the caves.</p><p>Rhaenys didn't say anything- he had a feeling she'd used blood too, but he wasn't sure how. She'd always had more of a knack for it, while Aegon preferred rituals in stone and steel.</p><p>“I'll have them send it to Quentyn's place,” Aegon said. “Should we check Duskendale?”</p><p>“Do you think that might be where it got loose?” Leonette asked.</p><p>“Loras died first,” Aegon pointed out. “And we know some sort of unidentified magic was involved.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Papa,” Rhaenys said, looking nervously at Aegon. “Are you still going to ride in the hunting party?”</p><p>The hunting party was going to ride tonight, the third night in a row. Rhaegar had ridden the previous two nights, refusing to take Aegon along. Rhaenys hadn't even bothered to ask if she could ride, which was probably good, Aegon figured. Their father might have agreed to it.</p><p>“I am,” Rhaegar said, frowning down at his daughter. He was dressed in the black coat that covered his neck and torso, and had a sword ready. It was an odd question for her to ask. “Do you think I should not?”</p><p>Targaryens should always be in the Hunt, Aegon knew that. If you weren't, the other families would think them weak. Or a baby.</p><p>“I think you should,” Rhaenys said, still looking at Aegon, now with a bit of puzzlement. What the fuck? “Though perhaps Uncle Arthur should remain with us, if you can't? We might receive visitors.”</p><p>He shook his head. “Rhaenys, we have had this discussion, and you know my reasons.”</p><p>She sighed, and Aegon almost felt guilty about the dark circles under her eyes. But no one asked her to do any of it, so he wasn't to blame.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Duskendale's ruins had been a wreck when she left- graffiti and trash and fire piles on the ground. The one time she had gone, with Myrielle for a dare, the taste of ash had clogged her throat and she'd gargled with seawater to try and get it out.</p><p>It was worse now, smelling of smoke and rot, with the echoes of screams ringing in her ears. While she was pretty sure that they couldn't hear that, at least, Leonette had taken on a greenish undertone to her skin, while Aegon was grimacing.</p><p>Rhaenys pulled a vial out of her jacket pocket, holding it out to Leonette. “It's peppermint oil- diluted so it doesn't fuck you up, but it helps.”</p><p>Leonette took a few drops to put under her nose, and it went 'round in a circle.</p><p>“It would be better if we had masks, but,” Rhaenys shrugged, looking at the stone ruins. They looked almost melted in places- she'd only seen that in Harrenhal, before, and that had been magically induced.</p><p>Point to the idea that the creature had killed Loras.</p><p>“Do we think it is lurking under here?” Garlan asked.</p><p>“No one ever figured out how it came to start attacking people last time,” Aegon said, warily.</p><p>“There were a few records that hinted that the creature attacked on a cycle,” Rhaenys added, thoughtfully. “Nothing solid, but every twenty or thirty years or so there was an uptick in the number of children who went missing. There was something that suggested it overlapped a bit with a Walker attack around the time the last Rhaenys Targaryen died, but there was enough madness around all that to make the records nearly useless.”</p><p>“Yeah, but our parents would have remembered that, hey, this happened when we were kids,” Garlan pointed out. “Twenty years is a long time, but not long enough that people wouldn't remember.</p><p>“It wasn't as many children, two or three, usually,” Rhaenys wrinkled her nose. “And some of it might have been the Free Folk, which wouldn't always be recorded.”</p><p>“So why was it so bad last time?” Brienne asked, grabbing a branch and tapping at a pile of ash.</p><p>“It was one of the longest cycles, at just about forty years,” Rhaenys said, very carefully. “The last string before that was right before Dad was born. Literally right before then- the last attack I think the creature made was the day before he was born.”</p><p>“Summerhall?” Aegon frowned at that. There <em>had</em> been wild magic when Summerhall burned. Fire and dragonblood... didn't go together quietly.</p><p>“Maybe?” Rhaenys shrugged. “There was a massive decrease in monster attacks for a few years after that. There were those Blackfyre mages that would have made it harder to notice, at first, but the records on Rides and what they were for were pretty clear.”</p><p>“And how do you remember this all?” Aegon asked, trying not to sound suspicious.</p><p>“I found most of it out by the time... well,” Rhaenys shrugged. “And I read through my old notes and some of the records Arianne has in the Martell archives. Besides, that date was pretty easy to remember.”</p><p>“So the creature was hurt when Summerhall burned,” Leonette said, “and then what?”</p><p>Brienne hit something hard in the ash and traced it with her stick. Rhaenys winced- not proper evidence procedure, especially when burned bodies were a possibility. But she supposed they weren't going to bring anyone to trial. Still, if there were additional bodies, they should try to preserve what was left, at least until they could ID.</p><p>“Aegon, were there any other rumors of missing people?” Brienne asked, clearly having the same thought as she paused. Or she'd stumbled upon a mostly intact bone. “Not children from one of the Houses.”</p><p>“No, though I'm still waiting to hear from the Orphans and the Free Folk,” Aegon said. The Orphans were a surprise- they were a lot more tight-knit than the Free Folk, and Arianne should have gotten an answer to him by now.</p><p>“Too much dragonblood,” he said, having caught her surprise. “And I think they are worried about more...” He thought about it for a moment. “Direct control over them? That this would be an excuse to strip away most of what keeps them distinct.”</p><p>“The entrance we found last time was in Oldstones,” Garlan pointed out. “Which is...” Not far, he could have finished, but more swallowed by time and vine.</p><p>“Multiple entrances,” Aegon shrugged. “I went up near Cailen Creek with Loras.”</p><p>“Abandoned places,” Rhaenys said, thoughtfully. “I wouldn't be surprised if the Free Folk children had vanished and been pulled through the old Nightfort that Alysanne Targaryen had shut down.”</p><p>Everyone looked at her in dull horror at that, possibly because even in the county the Nightfort was considered the sort of place that nightmares were spawned from. Rhaegar had insisted that every three years a careful Ride should take place there, and...</p><p>“Fuck,” Garlan said, pinching his nose as he realized what she had, back at the bar.</p><p>Renly had died in a Nightfort Ride. Renly, who had been down in the creature's lair with them, and been clawed up by the creature too.</p><p>“Do we know what killed him?” Rhaenys asked him, and she could see him remembering that she'd asked for Renly's autopsy results, as well. Evidently the attack on her had left everyone flailing.</p><p>“No one saw it,” Leonette said, tugging a springy curl down and twirling it for comfort. “They found a dead thing that had been a Free Folk guard, not too long after, and I think they assumed the two things were related.”</p><p>“Or not,” Aegon said, looking over the ruins. “Rhae, doesn't that ruin your cycle theory?”</p><p>“Not really,” Brienne pointed out. “Hunting is different then killing something that stumbles into your lair. I wonder if some of the other Nightfort deaths might match better.”</p><p>“And if Renly was marked by being stabbed by the things' claws, back then...” Aegon continued, not sending a look Rhaenys' way, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.</p><p>“It wouldn't be the only thing that uses old wounds to track someone,” Brienne agreed. “Which would give Rhaenys' theory more weight.”</p><p>“Do we go in here, then?” Quentyn asked. He was clearly nervous, but he was driven by the same sense of grim purpose the rest of them had, if not moreso. Little Catie was the perfect age to be taken by the creature, after all. She still wasn't sure about everyone else, and Quentyn would probably just stare at her if she admitted she didn't know.</p><p>“We're not prepared, not yet,” Aegon said. “I don't think a full Ride would be a good idea for this- the caves are too narrow, and I suspect it would turn into a nightmare if we tried it.”</p><p>“Large groups of people are useful for starting stampedes,” Rhaenys said, looking around. “Aerys executed the Darklyns along the eastern facing wall- I wouldn't be surprised if the entrance was nearby.”</p><p>“We'll meet at Dragonstone at dawn,” Aegon said, squaring his shoulders. “See you all tomorrow- actually, Brienne, I have a question for you...”</p><p>That earned him some looks, but he pulled Brienne aside as they all walked back to their cars.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>It hadn't been ten minutes after their father left that Loras was there, with Garlan driving a truck Aegon had never seen before, and he was pounding on the door.</p><p>Rhaenys was at the top of the stairs, holding a long dagger as Aegon answered the door.</p><p>“Where have you been?” Loras said.</p><p>“I thought they would do better if they got to yell at each other,” Garlan called up the stairs. Rhaenys tucked away the dagger somewhere and gave him a wry look.</p><p>“Probably a good idea,” she started. “Aegon hasn't even reac...”</p><p>“Dad and I got into a shouting match,” Loras admitted, interrupting her. “I thought I should be able to go on the hunt.”</p><p>“After what happened to Willas? I'm not even allowed on the hunt,” Garlan pointed out. Will Tyrell had fallen during a Ride, Aegon remembered, two years ago, and he'd ruined his leg. Rhaenys still had a crush on him, though.</p><p>“My friend is missing,” Loras shot back, rising to his full height. Which was still considerably shorter than the tall and broad-shouldered Garlan, so didn't do much.</p><p>“What friend? Who's missing?” Aegon said, looking between them.</p><p>“Shit, you didn't...” Rhaenys started again, this time looking shocked. It was a rare expression, and Aegon might have enjoyed it if Loras hadn't interrupted again.</p><p>“Robb's missing.”</p><p>Aegon blinked, and looked at him in bafflement, his brain refusing to process that. “What?”</p><p>“Robb's missing,” Loras repeated, sending Rhaenys an angry look. Had she known?</p><p>“When?” Aegon asked.</p><p>“Mrs. Stark called about an hour ago,” Rhaenys said. “Apparently Robb went to go investigate something- they thought one of the other kids was missing, but he just decided to hide and they couldn't find him for a bit. Robb might have gone to look outside and been lured away. They noticed it pretty quickly, and Mr. Stark is holding a hunt of his own. Dad got a delivery to help track him down- they...” she stopped. “Arthur was the one who brought a sample.”</p><p>“They found parts of his jacket,” Loras continued. “Which is how they know the thing got him.”</p><p>“Would Dad...” Aegon stopped talking.</p><p>“No,” Rhaenys said, firmly. “None of us are going. We need to trust the people who are doing the ride, we can't just launch into things. You don't know what it is, and there are reasons that Rides are the size they are.”</p><p>“It's Robb,” Aegon pointed out. “We can't not look for him.”</p><p>“People are looking,” Garlan reminded him. “And we don't know where they are looking.”</p><p>“Dad wouldn't have taken every bit of the jacket, though,” Aegon pointed out. “We can use it.”</p><p>“Robb is most likely dead,” Rhaenys said, very firmly. “Dad had me read the blood. He couldn't half-ass it, not for the Starks.” She didn't point out why that was- the woman in the little house in the north side of town, who had a son not quite two years younger than Aegon, with the Stark looks and Rhaegar Targaryen's expressions.</p><p>She was also better at using blood to call up memories- Dad could use a papercut to make an illusion that could touch you, but he wasn't the best at seeing through other people's eyes.</p><p>Aegon shot her a betrayed look at that. “Why didn't you tell me?”</p><p>“Because I felt like death warmed over,” Rhaenys said, and she did look greyish still, under her make-up. “You shouldn't ride until a death and I nearly did.”</p><p>“But you didn't see him die,” Loras protested, because Loras believed in fairy tales and happy endings and glory without grief.</p><p>“Because then I might have followed him,” Rhaenys said, tossing her hands in the air in frustration. “You don't try to see through a death, that is how horror movies start, you <em>idiot</em>. Possession, death, opening protections...”</p><p>“But he might still be alive,” Loras said, before running up to Aegon's room. Aegon followed his friend up the stairs.</p><p>Rhaenys sighed behind him, but he didn't really care.</p><p>“He's dead?” Garlan asked.</p><p>“He was bleeding badly, his ribs were broken, and something in his stomach ruptured,” Rhaenys said quietly. “If I had actual medical training I could tell you if he's dead yet, but if he isn't dead yet... by midnight, if the gods are cruel. I tried to let him know I was there, but I don't think he heard me. I tried to see if I could talk to him.”</p><p>“That's what nearly killed you?” Garlan asked.</p><p>She nodded. “It was stupid. But... he's just a kid. And was scared and alone, and...” She bit her lip. “The world just sucks sometimes.”</p><p>He nodded. “You want something to drink?” He paused. “Not booze.”</p><p>“I have tea that Tyene got me,” Rhaenys rubbed her nose and shook her head. “I hope they don't try anything stupid, I don't know if I can deal with it without strangling them like Bart Simpson.”</p><p>“Loras is my brother,” Garlan pointed out. “I get to strangle him.”</p><p>“Got it,” Rhaenys agreed, sighing.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Brienne sighed, and tossed her rental keys on top of the desk. She probably shouldn't take it when they did their Ride in miniature, tomorrow. If her car was wrecked, she'd be paying for it by the insurance companies for years to come, if she lived that long.</p><p>Honestly, she wasn't sure they shouldn't do a full Ride, given what those caves had been like. Large amount of smaller squads would search better. But then there was the problem of what the creature might do, the possibility of it casting one of those illusions to create friendly fire, and if there was really the maneuvering room...</p><p>And then there was Aegon's job offer, which he'd had written out and had ready to give her before even meeting her for the first time in years. The salary was higher, even with her vague estimates in cost of living differences, with good benefits. No union, but the position was insulated and respected enough that not even Aerys was crazy enough to try to ruin them. No, though from what Dad had said, the position had been more his cronies back then. Tywin Lannister had been the DA, but the sheriff had been a series of quieter souls, many of whom had been military vets, which... ethics, monster hunting, all that fun stuff.</p><p>It was a good offer on paper. If one of her colleagues had seen the paper, they would ask what catch was keeping her from signing. She couldn't just claim the weather, given her usual winters nowadays. She didn't mind living near her dad- that would honestly be the best part of all of it. The people-eating monsters... well, she could deal with that. Getting people to care about missing kids and teenagers was part of the job. It wasn't the main problem.</p><p>Aegon was trying to bribe her. It wasn't even a subtle bribe, not so soon after his interactions with Rhaenys, still as awkward and painful as they'd ever been.</p><p>And there was a lot to unpack with that. She didn't think Rhaenys still wanted Dragonstone. Her childhood friend had outgrown it, outgrown the rhythms and ties of the town. Also, someone had tried to kill her already, so that would wear someone down.</p><p>Which, Brienne realized with a start, was somehow tied into why Aegon had bribed her. If Brienne was Sheriff, she was Aegon's Sheriff. She was taking Aegon's side. Aegon couldn't command Rhaenys the way he could the rest of them, for whatever reason, and that scared the shit out of him, because Rhaenys was a threat to his control.</p><p>Also, a reminder that he'd fucked up big. A reminder with one hell of a sucker punch, if things hadn't changed too much. And he'd mishandled it- she wasn't sure, but he'd been surprised at the attempt to burn the corpse, as Rhaenys had put it, and no one had called in the sheriff for it. Which, in this town, was as good as condoning it. It was probably one of the reasons Quentyn had been so quiet- that was the sort of things that generally got under the Martells' skin, and unless Obara Sand never found out about it, Aegon was going to be missing some strips of skin soon.</p><p>Unless Aegon had contacted Desmera at some point- the Lady of the Manor could act as her husband's voice as needed, if she remembered right. Rhaegar had driven his wife away when they were all in elementary school, so she'd never seen it in practice.</p><p>Brienne dropped the offer letter on the desk. She'd tell him no, she was going to go back to Montana, but she'd need to tell him after the hunt. Should she tell Rhaenys, though? By all accounts, Aegon is doing very well in his role as Lord of Dragonstone, but the old hurts were still there, and it would be an easy injury.</p><p>But it would also be taking sides, and while she would take Rhae's side, all things being considered fairly, that might also hurt Brienne's father.</p><p>Who was never going to move out of this town, so she couldn't even just do that.</p><p>Nor could she just tell Rhaenys, because telling her that would start a fight, and they didn't need that so close to going down into the caves.</p><p>“Damn it,” Brienne debated the virtue of talking it over with her father- Selwyn Tarth might be fond of Rhae, but he'd also spent a long time keeping out of Crazy Aerys' line of sight. He'd probably just tell her to find a way to reject it without insulting Aegon.</p><p>Which was the smart thing to do. Now she just had to figure out how.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. It's A Bitter Wine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>“We're going to find him?” Loras asked when he got upstairs.</p><p>“Not so loud, she'll hear,” Aegon said, holding up his backpack. He'd emptied it out already, sending his homework flying. He'd clean it up later.</p><p>Loras picked up a bone-handled knife he'd gotten from Uncle Oberyn last time he'd blown into town. It was enchanted- dragonbone, Uncle had said with a faint smile.</p><p>Aegon strapped it to his jeans, before finding the first aid kit he'd kept under his bed, a present from Uncle Doran. It was made like a proper Ride kit, with spelled fabric unrolling to show protected pouches with disinfectant, a circuit breaker potion for cursebreaking, needle, thread, not-superglue, bandages, and other useful things.</p><p>He also packed three emergency flares. The Ride would be able to find them if they needed it.</p><p>“The secret passage from my room goes into the spare armory,” Aegon said, looking around. He didn't have too much in the way of useful things. “Rhae will probably be waiting in the main one trying to catch us if she knows what we're going to do.” He paused, then grinned. “Hey, I never pulled the trash from the practice room yesterday.”</p><p>“So?” Loras said, before grinning.</p><p>Robb had gotten a split lip yesterday, and had used a paper towel to clean it up. Rhae went over to Sunspear to exercise, so she wouldn't clean it up.</p><p>Blood to track him.</p><p>She didn't catch them as they snuck into the practice room after they used the passage to the armory- honestly, they had hung out in the practice room often enough, she wouldn't think anything of them going in. They could be... working off their frustrations.</p><p>They went out into the night, armed with knives and heavy flashlights and an old staff of ironwood capped with spelled steel.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Rhaenys was afraid to fall asleep.</p><p>The room was nice- Sansa didn't seem to believe in the sort of glass-and-steel minimalism she'd been almost afraid of, given how grim the Starks always seemed to be.</p><p>To be fair, the Starks also had good reason to want to avoid everyone named Targaryen. So the quilt was something in oranges and blues and a soft not-gold, with extra pillows if you needed to discreetly prop up an achy limb or needed a barrier if you were prone to rolling over. There was a small work desk her laptop was on, with the stickers some of the kids from Xavier's had sent her on its case, after she'd needed to do up some discreet stitches and other patch jobs.</p><p>(Yes, she worked with dead people, officially. But a bleeding kid in an alleyway who couldn't go to a hospital wasn't going to be allowed to suffer. She'd gotten hold of a good glue stitch, after that, and hid it in her purse with a disinfectant spray. Given some of the superpowered bullshit, no one said anything.)</p><p>What if they woke in the night to find another missing child?</p><p>No, another murdered child. The creature killed them before a rescue could be started, leaving only enough scraps to torment the families. Myrielle's little girl had been dead before Rhaenys had even known she was gone, and the guilt from that would eat at her, even if she'd only heard the girl's voice in infrequent phone calls.</p><p>She'd punch something, but there were no convenient villains at the moment, no reinforced boxing bags, and she'd feel worse if she punched the wall. She'd have to box it all up and wait until she was home and could process it.</p><p>She flopped onto the bed and screamed into the pillow, ignoring the sudden scent of a sweet perfume that ghosted from it.</p><p>Her cellphone was stubbornly showing no messages, no updates as to the research. Probably nothing would be found, but she wanted to call.</p><p>She wanted to hear Stephen's voice, at the moment. It was a nice voice, and she was a little alarmed at how fast the claw marks had healed, leaving pinkish marks that might be vanished by morning. Or might be another set of scars, ties to the creature.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>When she'd realized they were gone, Garlan went dead white.</p><p>“They are going to get themselves killed,” he pointed out.</p><p>“I <em>told</em> Dad,” Rhaenys snarled, looking through Aegon's room. “I told him that Aegon was going to try something, he just needed a goddamn fucking reason, and he needed to either take him on the Ride or to fucking seal the house while he was gone. No, Rhae,” she mimicked her father. “I can't be seen not to have trust in my heir. My father showed he had no trust in me, and I had to work to disprove him. No,” she snarled, hands catching in her hair, “he had to live down sleeping with a fucking high schooler, the shitty little pedophile.”</p><p>That was more temper- and a lot more swearing- than he'd ever heard from Rhaenys before, even if the last one made him want to ask Brienne or Leo if they could have Rhaenys sleep at one of their places more. Not that he didn't think anything had happened- Arianne and the Sand Snakes would have figured it out, and Rhaegar would be dead.</p><p>But still.</p><p>“They took the first aid kit that Uncle Doran gave him,” Rhaenys added, after a moment. “It has an emergency tracker that Uncle didn't tell him about. Did your dad leave any Riders that aren't watching Margie and your cousins?”</p><p>Garlan shook his head. “Merry Crane's dad and Uncle Baelor are it,” he admitted. “And I'd rather they stick with Will and Margie right now.” Some of the older kids would be drafted into being last-ditch guards, but they mostly relied on the maze of Highgarden to keep the worst things away.</p><p>“Shit, shit...” she bit her lip. “Dad didn't even leave that. Um. Selwyn? Uncle Oberyn is still out of town, Mom's not doing so hot, apparently, he took his younger kids. Obara, maybe? No, her leg's broken. The Blackwoods are at the Ride, I know the little one is staying at Riverrun...”</p><p>“We're going, then?” Garlan asked after a moment.</p><p>“Call Renly while I get the beacon tracker,” Rhaenys said after a moment. “Stannis might be home, or someone there who might be useful. There's a burn kit in the main armory that I don't think Aegon would have taken, and a sawed-off shotgun with incendiary rounds. We'll meet there?”</p><p>“Got it,” Garlan said, giving her a lazy salute before sprinting out of the room.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Oldstones was swallowed by vines. Kudzu and asphodel and sapling trees that blocked the way, and there was magic in how it seemed to avoid Aegon's sword.</p><p>“Damn it,” he said, driving the tip of his sword into the earth in frustration. “This was meant to be the safest entrance.”</p><p>“Cailin Creek isn't going to be any better,” Brienne pointed out. “I know they were rebuilding the old mage's ring there.”</p><p>“Yeah, it was part of the agreement with the Starks and Free Folk,” Aegon said. “Before Dad died, and I don't know if messing about there would be a good idea.”</p><p>It would start a panic, he knew, if they went in. One of the Red Priests was staying at the cottage there, and he... did not want to deal with that can of dynamite right now. Especially if the priest in question really had been crazy enough to piss off a vampire lord, as the rumor went. He didn't ask questions, he didn't have to deal with more questions being asked of him. Part of his role was just knowing when to let things play out.</p><p>“So, we know about the Nightfort and Duskendale,” Garlan said, after a moment studying the plants. “I'm not sure going to the Nightfort would be a good idea...”</p><p>“Not without a Phoenix host,” Rhaenys agreed, as if she'd met the mythical avatar of fire and renewal or one of its hosts. Perhaps she had- his spies hadn't been very good at tracking every movement. Or even most.</p><p>“Or...” She paused, looked pained, then shook her head. “An army? Probably of the sort that would make the locals pissy.”</p><p>She hadn't been about to say an army, but she was right in that calling up outside help would cause more problems afterwards. He could get away with calling in the old hunting party, on the basis of familiarity, but Rhaenys at least would need to leave by nightfall if they finished today.</p><p>He'd also need to check more carefully on what she was up to. She'd apparently gotten over those claw marks without a hint of lingering pain, and he didn't want to risk her causing any problems later.</p><p>Not that she hadn't kept quiet for years, but. There was just enough little things that he was worried, and Mera had just gotten far enough along in her pregnancy that they could breathe a little easier, after the losses between this one and Baelor. They were visiting Disney World, right now, and no one dared accuse him of being a coward, not with four dead children that Mera'd lost.</p><p>And not after the shouting match that he'd had with Mera about it, who'd thought that her mother would be fine with Bae, and that he was too stressed. Rolly had taken her side, but she'd lost the fight with her parents, who'd taken his. He'd need to grovel between here and Christmas.</p><p>“So, Duskendale, then,” Leo said. She was holding a map. “Unless we think Summerhall...”</p><p>“Fifty-fifty,” Rhaenys tilted her hand forwards and backwards. “But... probably not? It depends on if the creature wanted to expend the energy, especially if we're right about the fire harming it.”</p><p>“You hurt it,” Aegon said, after a long moment. She looked at him in surprise. “With fire. That might be why the attacks are so frequent now...”</p><p>She closed her eyes, looking like he'd punched her in the gut. “And might even be why it went for Renly. It needed to feed. So this current mess is my fault, then?”</p><p>That hadn't been what he'd meant. But he guessed he could see why she'd thought he'd been doing that.</p><p>“Nah,” Garlan said, shaking his head. “For starters, you set the fucker on fire when you were half-dead. Then, well, no one else was trying to stop it for the past twenty years, and I don't know. Couldn't have just... babe?” he looked at Leonette.</p><p>“Escalated?” Leo tilted her head. “I just watch documentaries on human crime. But. Maybe? It just got used to... feeding so heavily, and didn't want to stop.”</p><p>“Also possible,” Brienne agreed. “There are a lot of creatures that can spiral into addiction like that. Rhae, it wasn't you, it's the creature's nature and that's why it was so bad last time.”</p><p>It looked like he wasn't getting a new sheriff, then. She hadn't looked thrilled when he'd offered her the job, but he'd hoped being able to be closer to her father would win out to whatever she was doing in Montana, of all places. With the creature coming back, he'd hoped that appointing Brienne as sheriff might silence any whispers about curses and Rhaenys returning.</p><p>Especially given Myrielle. He'd allow her a lot of leniency for Diana's death, but she hadn't exactly been an ally before then. She'd be worse now, and from a strong position. He'd failed to prevent this, or stop it earlier, and he'd sent his own child and pregnant wife away- again, forgivable, especially as he only had one heir, but something that could be a problem.</p><p>Countering one of Rhae's old friends with Brienne of all people would have made things easier once the creature was actually fucking dead.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Renly had been waiting in his truck at the crossroads up near Rose Road, and Garlan swore under his breath. He'd told Renly to get help, damn it. Selwyn Tarth or see if he could raise one of his brothers on the Ride.</p><p>“How the hell did he get here... he has a kit in his truck,” Rhaenys said, shaking her head. She really shouldn't be shocked, but then again, most people forgot that Renly wasn't all that dumb. Just dramatic, and Garlan was good at seeing through that, given his own family.</p><p>“Stannis was dealing with a situation and not in the house,” Garlan muttered. There were at least two other people in the truck, but the headlights kept them from noticing more. Maybe one of the Carons? Or that Royce boy that Renly liked?</p><p>Not that Garlan was meant to know that, but he was good at observing and Renly losing his cool was actually pretty funny, as long as Robert and his wife didn't figure it out.</p><p>“Where are we going?” Renly said, sticking his head out of the window.</p><p>“North,” Rhaenys called back, before shrugging at Garlan. It wouldn't be a full Ride, or even a Ride he would have chosen, unless Rhaeny's Uncle Oberyn or his Uncle Baelor was miraculously in the truck, but he'd work with what he had.</p><p>They drove up, quick as Garlan dared- there wouldn't be any traffic but Riders tonight, unless someone needed the ambulance. And he was pretty sure that most people wouldn't risk calling an ambulance unless they needed to.</p><p>“Turn here,” Rhaenys said, sharply, and he'd needed to yank the steering wheel in ways his mechanic would be pissed about to make the turn, tires squealing as he'd turned on the dirt access road. “We're going to Oldstones.”</p><p>“A little warning next time might be nice,” he pointed out, turning on his highbeams. There was Spanish Moss growing along the trees, and vines that seemed to creep at the edges of the road. Wide enough to drive his truck through, though- he guessed it was used by someone besides the creature. “Did they come through here?”</p><p>Neither of them were old enough to drive, and he'd half hoped that they'd find them hiking along the road. Judging by the way Rhaenys had needed to pull her eyes from the road to check the tracking charm, she'd thought the same.</p><p>“I don't know- could they have stolen some ATVs?” Rhaenys pinched her nose. “Dad kept them locked up, but if one of the groups searching took some...”</p><p>Garlan sighed. “They could be at Winterfell by now, then.” He'd wondered about that- Willas' leg had shattered riding one of them two years ago.</p><p>“Gods above and below,” she muttered, proving that she was deeply Targaryen and strange as her eyes seemed to glimmer. “We'll have to park and walk soon.”</p><p>They pulled off just before the road narrowed, Garlan's knuckles white against the steering wheel. Loras and Aegon needed to be fine- Loras so Garlan could kick his ass and drop him in front of Grandmother to tear to shreds, and Aegon because he really didn't want to tell Rhaegar that Loras had gone off with Aegon and gotten Rhaegar's only son killed.</p><p>His family would suffer, and then they'd have to deal with Viserys. Not as Master of Dragonstone, because no one would stand that, only the real sticklers wouldn't choose Rhae over him. But the resulting fighting and drama would be a mess.</p><p>Renly's truck parked behind them, and he wasn't all that surprised as Brienne Tarth came out, holding a kit. Quentyn Martell scrambling out of the cab and nearly falling on his face was a surprise, he had to admit, but once he stood up, Garlan noticed the vambraces under his shirt.</p><p>Leonette bouncing out after her, hair pulled back and looking grim, was a surprise.</p><p>“Leo?” he asked, frowning. “What are you doing here?”</p><p>“Helping you two rescue your brothers,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “And you know this thing killed one of my cousins.”</p><p>True- he remembered the thing going after Walda Frey, and the scattered stories of others having similar visions was one of the reasons why all of his cousins had sent their kids into Highgarden. Which hadn't been what he and Will had asked for, but it worked and mostly kept Margie out of trouble.</p><p>“It'll be dirty work,” Rhaenys said, not looking up from her kit. “You have a good arm, make sure you have the flash-bangs.”</p><p>“She's not Ride-ready,” Garlan pointed out.</p><p>“Neither am I,” Rhaenys blinked up at him, honestly puzzled.</p><p>“You're different,” he pointed out.</p><p>Leonette snorted, but he wasn't wrong. Leo was a dancer, Rhaenys was a crazy witch.</p><p>Er, literally. He'd seen her coax away a fire caused by one of the Redwyne twins in Chemistry class last year, when they'd left their gas valve on too long. Willas could do something with animals, if he tried, and there was a family joke about Margaery's ability to charm people, but the fire had been alarming to everyone.</p><p>“I'm technically Ride-ready,” Quentyn said, raising his hand. “Yronwood said so.”</p><p>That would be funny, given Quentyn's usual air of quiet disaster, but Garlan knew enough about Yronwood to know that the man wouldn't say that if it wasn't true.</p><p>“Look, we're on a clock,” Renly said, shining his flashlight down the path. “How much time do you think we have?”</p><p>“Not a lot,” Rhaenys said, “Whichever of them has the kit isn't dead or dying but that's all I can say. Come on.”</p><p>They weren't too far from the ruins of Oldstones, which had been abandoned like a century and a half ago, and she led them to an old ice house, the charm dangling from her hands and emitting a steady light.</p><p>“We have to go in there?” Renly asked, looking at one corner in particular. It did, Garlan admit, look a lot like a hole that was deeper than it should be.</p><p>“You don't need to,” Garlan pointed out, probably sounding like an asshole, judging from Leo's glare.</p><p>“Someone can stay put and let my father know we went in,” Rhaenys agreed.</p><p>Renly jumped in without hesitation.</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Leonette had hated going in the caves last time. She'd been working on a project with Renly, Quentyn, and Brienne- who had taken a long, <em>long</em> time to realize that Renly was gay and semi-purposefully using Brienne's hopeless crush as a beard- and when the call came in, she'd hopped in the middle seat of the truck without too much thought. The creature had killed one of her cousins, a boy she'd known from family events who'd thrown a shoe at Garlan one time and been amazed when the older boy had caught it.</p><p>Going in as an adult was a new form of hell, even if they had better tools. She remembered the damp stone tunnel under Oldstones from her nightmares. They'd faded after she'd left the county- and she'd need to check with Willas, who liked those sorts of logic puzzles, and ask him why those memories had faded whenever she wasn't in town. Maybe to keep them away, somehow.</p><p>The cave under Duskendale smelled of damp ashes and something rotting, putting her in mind of an infected cut.</p><p>Rhaenys was at her elbow, holding a vial of the peppermint oil and what looked like a paper surgical mask. “Not the best, but it'll help,” she said, quietly. “You look pretty green.”</p><p>Leonette nodded, dabbed on some of the oil, and put it on. It did help, the clean scent of the oil making her.</p><p>Quentyn gave her a thumbs up, wearing his own mask. She grinned, even if he couldn't see.</p><p>“Really, Rhae,” Aegon started, before she shoved another one at him. She seemed to be finding the caves the easiest, not tripping over rocks or looking ready to collapse. To punch someone, maybe, but that might just be her face and the mask.</p><p>Garlan took another just as the entire wall next to her seemed to move, and...</p><p>“<em>Oh Jesus I hate spiders</em>,” she managed, before whacking it with the pickax that Aegon had given her. It was heavy and she knew her shoulders would hate her later, but the squish of the spider helped. It wasn't as if she could have missed, after all, the thing's torso was almost as big as her.</p><p>She still shook, though, trying not to dance like she was trying to shake off more.</p><p>“How big do you think that thing was?” Brienne asked, after a moment. She was trying to go closer to the corpse of the spider, until Quentyn grabbed her arm. She glared down at him.</p><p>“Do not poke the dead monster,” Quentyn pointed out dryly. “And I think it's too big to be real, even with magic.”</p><p>Garlan frowned. “Big spiders exist...”</p><p>“Yeah, but there's a limit to how big they can be without collapsing,” Quentyn pointed out, and when he noticed the skeptical expressions of those around him, he added, “Catie is having a bug phase.”</p><p>“Aww,” Leo laughed. She and Garlan had never had kids- Willas had three little rugrats who were stuck in Highgarden until this thing was killed, and they spoiled them rotten instead. Garlan's grandmother had been rude about it, suggesting that she'd preferred dance over motherhood, and Garlan had nearly lost his temper at Olenna Tyrell.</p><p>The bug seemed to shudder and crumble in on itself, seeming almost crystalline as it reformed and seemed to be reshaping itself.</p><p>Rhaenys spat out a word that seemed to cling to anything that heard it, as if the sound had weight and texture of its own, and the smell of wet smoke was cloying through the mask for a long moment as the creature froze, before shattering as Rhaenys stepped closer.</p><p>“That... works,” Garlan said after a long moment.</p><p>“Where did you pick that up?” Aegon asked, suspiciously.</p><p>“I didn't spend the last twenty years sitting on my ass,” was her answer.</p><p>“We should probably keep going,” Leonette pointed out, trying to rebalance her pickax and readjust the miner's helmet she was wearing.</p><p>“Could it conjure up something like that before?” Brienne asked. “Because that didn't happen last time.”</p><p>Aegon nodded tightly. “I think it was pretty focused on Loras and me last time,” he said. “All it had to do was wait for you all to follow us down.”</p><p>“Charming thought,” Rhaenys murmured. “Well, further in we'll go.”</p><p>Quentyn was studying the crystalline heap in the harsh light of his helmet-light, frowning as it slowly dissolved into nothingness.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>It was far too quiet in the caves, Quentyn noticed.</p><p>They weren't massive- he could fit comfortably, but Garlan occasionally had to hunch a bit as the ceiling dipped.</p><p>How they were getting out would be another problem- he knew they needed to hurry, but he'd taken a bit of the binding-ink from Stannis Baratheon's desk and dripped it along the walls at what he thought was a steady pace, every few minutes. Garlan had nodded at that when he'd noticed. The tunnel seemed to be a straight shot, but if it changed... who knew exactly how real geography was in here?</p><p>Mother of the Rivers, he thought, guide our paths and help us defeat the wicked. The prayer had been one his nanny- well, “Mother's Helper”, officially, but Leila Greenblood had told him stories and whispered the prayers when there had been a Ride.</p><p>Their footsteps were silent. There should the crunch of the dark, mildew-y gravel under their feet, maybe dripping or the sound of the river. But instead it was almost entirely silent- he could hear his breathing, but that was all.</p><p>Could he hear the others?</p><p>He paused- he heard, as if muffled, the clinking of metal from Renly's direction. A small smacking sound from Leonette.</p><p>He opened his mouth to speak when Rhaenys shook her head, raising a finger to her lips. There was something very wrong about her chipped and glittery purple nails right now. Not, thankfully, in a turning into claws way, it was just all very jarring and that had to be what stuck out. Mostly because he could hear Arianne's probable comments on them.</p><p>They were going in deeper, the cave seeming to gently lead them in farther in at a gentle downward slope that was far too even to be a good thing. Hurry ever faster to your doom and horrible death...</p><p>Oh, well, at least it would be quick, given the other reports.</p><p>There was a shout that cut through the air, and Garlan's steps hurried for a brief moment before he looked back at them.</p><p>Rhaenys held up the little charm, which seemed to be straining to fly from her hand.</p><p>“We're here,” Quentyn said, and they looked at each other, wondering what to do.</p><p>“Renly, Quent, Leo, get Aegon and Loras out, Garlan, Brienne and I will cover and follow you,” Rhaenys said, quietly. Renly looked ready to protest, but Rhaenys shook her head. “It might try to stop you somehow.”</p><p>Renly glared but didn't argue.</p><p>“Ready?” she asked.</p><p>Then she walked in, and Quentyn almost didn't notice her shaking.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. That Spring Had Come Again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Rhaenys could feel the damn creature as she got closer- the scars down her forearms were blazing. It was a pain in the ass, but she could probably cast spells despite it. The sword that Aegon was carrying on his back might be something she wouldn't want to risk, since she was well aware that properly wielding a sword involves more than uncontrolled hacking and slashing, especially when dealing with a shapeshifter.</p><p>But that was why Aegon had the sword. Well, that and access to Dragonstone's armory.</p><p>“Think we're going to end up in the cathedral again?” Brienne asked quietly. Rhaenys was a bit surprised- the damn thing <em>had</em> resembled a cathedral, taller than should be possible with black stone spires seeming to rise into the shadows. But Brienne had <em>never</em> been poetic growing up. She wasn't dumb, she just was more down-to-earth than anyone else. Will had been the one to see things in poems, while Rhaenys saw them as puzzles.</p><p>...Occasionally working as a medical examiner made a horrifying amount of sense.</p><p>“Probably,” Rhaenys said, thinking about it. Something would probably drop from the ceiling in that case- hopefully it wouldn't be another spider.</p><p>The tunnel seemed to be widening, and Leonette was tightening her grip on the pick-ax.</p><p>The line between what Brienne had called the cathedral and the tunnel was blurry, and it was hard to tell when you entered- that was different. Last time there'd been a bend in the tunnel and what seemed to be a doorway. No room for hesitation now.</p><p>No chance to turn back.</p><p>If you didn't count Robb, since he hadn't been a rescuer, they'd all survived last time, whatever rumor said. She hoped they'd have as good odds this time, but it didn't seem terribly likely.</p><p>Rhaenys shook her head, dislodging her worries.</p><p>It let her see the flickering of the shadows in time to throw up a shield spell, something crashing against it with a shriek like shredding metal.</p><p>“Found it,” she murmured.</p><p>It looked at her hatefully, and she bared her teeth right back.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Garlan knew straight away that Robb was dead. Poor kid couldn't still be alive, not with that much of his guts missing. He was tossed in the middle of the massive cavern, looking like he'd been posed, almost. Maybe as bait? Loras and Aegon would have rushed in</p><p>Loras and Aegon were alive, at least. Loras was hunching his shoulders- protecting his neck or sign of injury? Aegon was trying to hold off the creature with an ironwood staff, which seemed to be hurting the creature, but there was also a large pool towards the far end of the cavern, and they were being driven towards it. They wouldn't have much more time before they hit the water.</p><p>Renly launched himself forward, always needing to be the center of attention- he was a lot like Loras that way.</p><p>The creature bit down on Renly's shoulder, seeming to burrow in as he flailed. Brienne launched herself at it, hitting it with the sword she'd brought with her, scoring down its back.</p><p>The creature's blood was an oily black color, spilling down the ever-shifting hide of the thing.</p><p>Rhaenys went for the kids, trying to tug them towards the entrance. “C'mon,” she hissed.</p><p>“We should try to kill it,” Aegon protested.</p><p>“Yes, we should, but not at the edge of a lake you little twerp,” she said, still pulling. Loras went, shooting her a narrow-eyed look. Garlan would need to talk to him about that later.</p><p>Aegon was still clutching the staff, as if he thought it would keep the creature away. Well, apparently it had, for a while at least.</p><p>Brienne thrust the sword again, and the creature...</p><p>Shifted shape, becoming something with horrifically oversized hands with claws that looked ripped from Nightmare on Elm Street.</p><p>Rhaenys bit her lip, straightened, and started chanting. He wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been trying to hustle Loras towards the mouth of the cave.</p><p>Leo was looking at the water's edge, then threw one of the flash-bangs in the water, creating a massive pillar of water and forcing the creature to look away. It shape-shifted into something almost lizard-like, the claws retracting. Probably not so useful when not trying to skewer someone.</p><p>Also, maybe because the floor underneath it was starting to dissolve into quicksand. Rhaenys was staring glassy-eyed, mouth moving and the spell not quite loud enough to carry.</p><p>Unfortunately, Brienne had also been distracted by the flash-bang, and looked over. And the creature was evidently in the mood to lash out instead of playing with its food.</p><p>Brienne let out a cry as the creature walloped her on the back, before falling into the water and not moving.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Brienne looked nervously at the lake- it was saltwater, she remembered, cold and impossibly dark and filled with ribbons of things so dark as to seem to almost glow.</p><p>She was going to try to stay away from the lake, this time.</p><p>Leo craned her neck up, trying to look at the ceiling.</p><p>“Conjuration,” Aegon muttered, throwing a fireball up at the ceiling.</p><p>Hopefully this cave wasn't flammable. From what Garlan said, it hadn't gone up last time.</p><p>But something fell down, burning, twisting, and skittering, and looking like a scorpion for one long, worrying minute as it weakly tried to fling something from its wicked-looking tail. The charring got too far up it, though, and most of the body turned into ash.</p><p>Aegon tossed another fireball at the stinger at the end of the tiny stub of tail.</p><p>“A little help...” Rhaenys said, absently. She'd needed to pull back the shield a few feet, and Brienne realized that it wasn't that big- more of a flat sheet of shielding than the dome Rhae'd used for the bottle rocket. Garlan was trying to find a way around it, Brienne thought, but was also trying to not encourage it to go running at them. Rhaenys could move the shield, but...</p><p>...it was entirely possible the creature was playing with them.</p><p>“Sorry, trying to stop the other thing trying to kill us,” Aegon said, pulling out his sword. It was one of the ones made from Valaryian steel, one of the ones with a name. Blackfyre, probably, Dark Sister had been made for Visenya Targaryen and this one was a bit big for that. It seemed to swallow the light around it and reflect it only in a smoky sort of reflection. Weirdly off from what it should be, which covered most magic.</p><p>The shield had a break, and the creature launched itself, flying at Rhaenys, who ducked and conjured another shield...</p><p>...which she pushed up and angled so it went flying.</p><p>Aegon launched himself at it, sword high, as Garlan yelled and Brienne swung around to help him with something that looked weirdly like a funhouse clown.</p><p>She raised her crossbow and fired- it was a little thing, but the bolts were treated and she'd remembered how big this place was- hitting it in the neck.</p><p>Garlan's battle-ax crumpled its head while it froze. She thought the thing might have belonged to Robert Baratheon, once upon a time before he'd gone and died.</p><p>“How many more of these things do you think it can make?” Garlan asked her, tugging the axe out of its body.</p><p>“As many as it needs to,” Brienne said, less out of pessimism than because that was probably the safest bet to make.</p><p>They still turned to see things start to go wrong.</p><p>Aegon's sword went flying, but Leo's pick-ax hit the creature between its shoulders and it shrieked, wrenching away so Leo had to step back.</p><p>Aegon dove for the sword...</p><p>...and just as his hand reached the grip, the creature started to laugh.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Brienne was going to drown, <em>Brienne was going to drown</em>.</p><p>Rhaenys shoved Aegon at Garlan and hissed the spell that Sarella had taught her. It was made for fetching heavy objects off of tall shelves, but if she slammed it...</p><p>The creature stepped in front of her, directly into the spell. When it started flying, she dropped to the ground. Hopefully the others weren't in the way...</p><p>It snagged her as it flew past, and she hissed as the claws burrowed into her shoulders, but its head crashed into a pillar while her head went into its neck, so who was winning there?</p><p>It wasn't letting go, and it was covering her mouth and nose with its limb, though, and she couldn't wiggle free- she could hear Leo shouting at her, muffled, and thought she heard someone splashing in the water- Brienne, please be Brienne, she shouldn't have been down here in the first place- and she did something that was either brilliant or so stupid as to be not worth mentioning.</p><p>She bit the creature, as hard as she could, and she drew blood that tasted like sulfur and motor oil.</p><p>Stupid idea, probably, but it got the creature's limb off her face and it let out what seemed like a yelp from the creature.</p><p>She staggered up, reaching in her kit to see what she had in it.</p><p>“Rhae...” someone said, as she swayed.</p><p>She spat the creature's blood out of her mouth- mostly just to get the fucking taste out of her mouth, which didn't really work, but if it made her seem unafraid, that was probably a good thing.</p><p>It said something- she didn't quite get the pronunciation, but she could figure out the cadence of a spell.</p><p>Her hand closed on what she was looking for.</p><p>She pulled out the gas duster- it was something that you'd use for keyboards and shit, and while you'd get your ass kicked for huffing them, they found their way into a lot of cheap, DIY protection kits for a reason.</p><p>She readied her aim and stepped forward, just as a sharp and eerie light seemed to ooze into reality.</p><p>Whatever light it gave off seemed to burn at her, burrowing in like roots in her hands and face and making her want to scream, except her voice was gone, everything was gone except- everything was gone except for pain and a sense of grim purpose...</p><p>She sprayed the can, waited for the laughter that tore at her, then beaned it with the can, that landed pathetically at its feet.</p><p>Exactly as she wanted it to.</p><p>“Dracarys,” she mouthed, not really able to do anything else.</p><p>Fire, after all, always came easily to her.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Aegon picked up the sword.</p><p>He had rushed in once before, eager for glory, eager to prove that he knew what he was doing, and then he'd lied to cover his ass and kept the lie going for years.</p><p>What would happen if he actually did the thing he'd been acclaimed for?</p><p>The thing seemed to twist and look at him, a rattling sound coming from it that sounded unpleasantly like a laugh.</p><p>The chant Rhaenys was doing was holding it for now, but wouldn't work forever- she swayed a bit, and there was blood tricking from her nose, and something was terribly wrong about the way her eyes seemed to be tracking things.</p><p>But the left flank was loosing the slimy leathery coating, revealing long crystalline structures that might be muscles. A weak point. The spine also seemed to have flaws, possibly due to how much shape-shifting it did.</p><p>He settled for a moment, waiting to see... the coating was rippling a bit in the left shoulder, and he met the arm with Blackfyre.</p><p>The arm went off, and Aegon twisted to avoid it.</p><p>There was a screech from somewhere else, and Brienne swearing at something- that was probably bad, though Brienne had been in the military, she probably started swearing there- but he was focused on the creature, which seemed to be... shifting into a xenomorph?</p><p>“Ah, fuck,” Rhaenys tilted her head as she limped up towards the creature, stopping a step or two behind him. “I wonder if it pulls memories. My bad. Try fire?”</p><p>Aegon used Blackfyre to focus a fireball where the creature's eyes should be- though it opened its mouth and those teeth were probably bigger than his head, though they had to be fragile given how skinny they were.</p><p>The mouth burned pretty well though, making it rear back.</p><p>He followed it up as quickly as Arthur Dayne had taught him to, slicing deep into the skinned portion of its leg, causing a gargling attempt at a scream.</p><p>The sword flicked up, beheading the creature and making it dissolve into a vaguely huminoid geode.</p><p>“Pick-axe?” Aegon paused, before shaking his head. “Garlan, the case I brought with me?”</p><p>Rhaenys' eyes went wide as he opened the small casket. “Aegon?”</p><p>He used the sword to push the head closer, then poured the wildfire on the corpse. “Dracarys,” he said, snapping his fingers.</p><p>“We should be running, right?” Quentyn said, tilting his head. “I mean, wildfire is dangerous. Um, you aren't trying to turn us from Innsmouth to Silent Hill, right?”</p><p>“Nah, it'll burn itself out, I might want you to summon some of that lake water, though,” Aegon said, frowning. “This is usually enough to properly kill something, though I might want to write a few sources outside of the county...”</p><p>Rhaenys twitched at that, but he'd let it rest for now, with the snapping, hissing sound of the creature burning.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Aegon, can you confirm that is what truly happened?” Stannis Baratheon asked, and what was he doing here, Shireen was safe in her bed, right? Rhaenys sat up and looked about.</p><p>Cousin Stannis was here, and Tywin Lannister, which was absolutely lovely, Uncle Doran looking grave, Baelor Hightower, and Hoster Tully. What was going on? Her arms were bandaged from fingertips to elbows, and there was the itchy feeling of something healing on her face.</p><p>Maybe she'd scar? That might be nice. Or it might start a new round of bullshit.</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, that's what happened,” Aegon said, and why wasn't he looking at her? Dad was scowling ferociously, she didn't know Dad did ferociously, just judgy.</p><p>“You suddenly gained an interest in chemistry,” he said, and Rhaenys felt a faint chill down her spine. “And we have discussed the consequences of your story.”</p><p>“The boy is consistent in saying he slew the monster,” Tywin said, cool as usual, as Rhaenys felt the rage boil like a dragon's fire in her. “And that he rescued his sister from her foolishness.”</p><p>“You little <em>shit</em>,” Rhaenys snarled. “You selfish, reckless, arrogant...” She let out a frustrated screech.</p><p>“I think that might prove the boy's story,” Stannis said, and the bottom dropped out, before sweet , thoughtful, possibly literally lifesaving Uncle Doran spoke up.</p><p>“Sometimes I forget you never shared a house with a teenage girl,” he said. “I think that is generally the sound made by sisters frustrated with younger siblings everywhere. Elia and Arianne both have had cause to use it before.”</p><p>“It is,” Baelor agreed. “Occasionally with older siblings, as well.” He let out a faint smile, and Hoster Tully nodded- he looked grey and worn, his eldest grandchild gone. Hopefully someone had brought up Robb's body to burn. Even Tywin didn't say anything, because Cersei still screeched like that for a lot less cause.</p><p>They went away to discuss things, and Aegon went with them, leaving Rhaenys to fume.</p><p>At least Aegon wasn't there later, when Dad came with a suitcase of her things.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Rhaenys?” Stephen woke up, looking rumpled and with a curling sort of bruise around one shoulder and down his upper arm. But he looked relieved to see her, and she dropped her towel and grabbed one of the t-shirts that littered the room. It was his, with a baseball team she vaguely recognized as not being the Yankees.</p><p>She was a hockey fan. He was the noisy baseball fan who liked to shout at the umpire. But the shirt was comfy and smelled a bit like his aftershave and not at all like damp stone and rotting blood.</p><p>“You slept through me coming home and showering. Wong said you had something that came up and were refusing pain medication, so I didn't want to wake you. I have to be back in work the day after tomorrow,” she yawned. “I'm using you to keep the memories away for now, when we wake up I'll tell you everything.”</p><p>He lifted himself off the mattress a bit more, studying her. “Your ribs have to hurt like a bitch.”</p><p>“I'll live,” she muttered. “And I'll be fine in a day or so, you know that. Your shoulder?”</p><p>“I didn't actually dislocate it,” he muttered, sounding like this was not the first or even the fifth time he'd had this argument. “Carol checked it out for me, and Wong insisted on double checking.”</p><p>“You used the salve I made up, at least?” she asked. It wouldn't kill the pain, but it would reduce any swelling and help him heal a bit more quickly. Dispel any magic involved, as well- there were tentacles involved, she suspected.</p><p>He nodded. “I wasn't...” he looked a bit shadowed. “It isn't that I.”</p><p>“The pills make your brain fuzzy,” she offered, knowing it wasn't just that. It was too much like the time after the accident, and having those reminders while your brain wasn't at full capacity was a minor nightmare.</p><p>See, the effects that the creature had with illusions and small tricks.</p><p>“Did you manage to...” he stopped. “Well, you wouldn't be home, would you? So I suppose I should be asking if anyone is going to be knocking at our door tomorrow morning.”</p><p>“No,” she said, sliding into bed. “No one will.”</p><p>Aegon, for any peace finally killing the monster might have brought, still didn't want to deal with her. Brienne was headed back to Montana and didn't like cities anyway. Leo and Garlan might visit, but not anytime soon.</p><p>Of course, if she was wrong, she was going to need to go after someone with a baseball bat.</p><p>She burrowed her face into his neck, mindful of the bruises, and ignored the faint traces of someone shouting that it stirred up.</p><p> </p>
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